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TEL AVIV – Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military mission that was preparing to demolish a building. The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that 21 reserve soldiers were killed. This is the deadliest incident for Israel in its Gaza offensive.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said in a televised statement that the RPG shell hit a tank and appeared to detonate Israeli explosives on the two-story building. Three other soldiers were also killed in the fierce fighting on Monday.
The IDF has worked to establish it a 600-meter-wide buffer zone along the border and the destruction of buildings there as part of efforts to protect Israeli communities across the border, Hagari added. The current conflict began after Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages on October 7th.
Israel steps up attack on Khan Younis; The pressure on the two-state solution is increasing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that the IDF had opened an investigation into the incident.
“We must learn the necessary lessons and do everything we can to save the lives of our warriors,” he said. “In the name of our heroes and for our own lives, we will not give up the fight until we have achieved absolute victory.”
The latest losses bring to 217 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began. According to the US State Department, 21 Americans serving in the IDF have died in the conflict.
“This is a war that will determine Israel’s future for decades to come,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a social media post on Tuesday. “The overthrow of our fighters is a prerequisite for achieving the war goals.”
Israel has gradually withdrawn some troops from the northern Gaza Strip in recent weeks, saying the next phase of the war will involve more targeted raids and assassinations than the large-scale campaign that has leveled much of the north.
But fighting continues, especially in the central and southern areas and around the town of Khan Younis and near Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Israel said on Tuesday that its ground forces had encircled Khan Younis in the south and, together with its air force, killed dozens of Palestinian militants, it said in a statement. The city is believed to be the home of Hamas military leader Yehiya Sinwar and is the main target of the IDF's current battle, with fighting expected to last several weeks.
The IDF ordered residents of several parts of Khan Younis, including the city center, to evacuate late Monday.
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Raed al-Nams, a spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, texted: “The situation in Khan Younis is very difficult so far. Entering and leaving is generally prohibited.”
The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, after more than 100 days of fighting in one of the most destructive wars of this century, according to a Washington Post analysis. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Israel has stationed at least three brigades and other special forces in the enclave, according to a military statement this month. But Hagari, the spokesman, said Tuesday that “more reservists are needed in all combat arenas.”
He said future military strategy would include “both the release of reservists and the concentration of activity.”
“We will be called upon to recruit reserve forces again and to operate again in all theaters of war, south and north,” he said. He added that Israel had another duty – to allow some of the hundreds of thousands who have enlisted since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack to return to their families, jobs and studies, “to enable the State of Israel to… to fight for a long time”.
Hazem Balousha in Amman, Jordan, and Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.