Israel: 8 soldiers killed in Gaza’s Shuja'iyya

The Israeli occupation army at dawn on Wednesday admitted that eight of its members, most of them officers, were killed in the ongoing battles in the northern Gaza Strip.

The army announced that the eight soldiers, including a battalion commander of the Golani Brigade, were killed in an ambush by the Al-Qassam Brigades in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza, but have not provided further details.

Israel’s official Israeli radio Kan reported that a combat force belonging to the Golani Brigade went out on Tuesday to search buildings in the Al-Qasba area, which is considered a densely populated area.

According to Israeli radio, the military force was ambushed by Al-Qassam fighters and an explosive charge was detonated. The soldiers were also shot at from one of the houses.

The soldiers returned fire, and while trying to take control of the sites, the military force split into two. During the rescue operation, another force arrived and entered the building to evacuate the deceased and wounded. Al-Qassam fighters opened fire on the evacuation force, and they were killed and wounded.

On Tuesday, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the killing of a number of Israeli soldiers and the targeting of military vehicles in the Shuja’iyya and Khan Yunis neighbourhoods.

Soroka Medical Centre in Bir Al-Sabea confirmed on Tuesday evening that it received 30 wounded soldiers from the Gaza battles during the last day.

READ: Israeli soldiers set fire to Gazan supplies in Shujaiya Neighborhood

On Tuesday, Palestinian resistance fighters thwarted an Israeli naval landing operation opposite the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Since Tuesday morning, the eastern city of Khan Yunis, the northern areas of the Gaza Strip and the eastern Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza City have witnessed fierce battles between the Israeli army and Palestinian resistance fighters.

The ground battles coincided with intense Israeli air and artillery bombardment in various areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army attempted to carry out a landing operation in the Mediterranean Sea opposite the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. However, resistance fighters confronted it, according to eyewitnesses and local sources.

They reported sounds of clashes rang out at the landing site, and then military aircraft intervened intensively, causing the operation to fail.

In separate statements, Palestinian resistance factions announced targeting Israeli military vehicles and soldiers, achieving “direct hits”.

The Al-Qassam Brigades claimed it: “Destroyed enemy gatherings in the eastern and northern Khan Yunis axes with mortar shells.”

It reported, in a second statement, the killing of: “A number of Israeli soldiers and the targeting of military vehicles in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, as well as the city of Khan Yunis.”

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, announced in a statement that it bombed “enemy gatherings east of Khan Yunis with mortar shells”.

It affirmed, in another statement, that it: “Engaged in fierce clashes with enemy soldiers, causing direct casualties in the Al-Taqaddim axis of Al-Zaytoun and Shuja’iyya, east of Gaza City.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli army announced that the number of its soldiers and officers killed since 7 October had risen to 435, including 105 killed since the start of the ground operation on 27 October.