Vehicle explodes near Rafah
Eight Israeli soldiers die in Gaza Strip
15.06.2024, 20:40
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More than 300 Israeli soldiers have died since the war in the Gaza Strip began. Eight more have now been added to that number. An enormously high number for a single day. A vehicle with the soldiers on board exploded. It is still unclear whether they were attacked.
According to the Israeli army, eight soldiers were killed during an operation in the Gaza Strip. The incident occurred in the south of the Gaza Strip in the Rafah region, the army said. The armored vehicle in which the soldiers were traveling exploded. According to the information, it is not clear whether the vehicle hit a mine or was directly attacked by fighters from the Islamist Hamas.
The armored transporter was part of a convoy that drove to a building in the Tel Sultan neighborhood early Saturday morning, which the military had previously taken control of. In the fighting the night before, Israeli units had killed 50 Hamas militiamen, the statement continued. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The families of the eight people killed have been informed, the army said. This is one of the highest casualty figures for Israeli troops in a single day since the start of the war against the radical Islamist Hamas. According to official figures, 306 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israeli ground troops entered the Gaza Strip on October 27.
Hezbollah bombards military base
The Israeli army also engaged in new battles with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Hezbollah said it attacked the Israeli military base in Meron with “guided missiles” across the border and fired “attack drones” at another Israeli base. The Israeli army confirmed that it had fired “two projectiles” at the military facility in Meron, which caused neither casualties nor damage.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip began more than eight months ago, Hezbollah has been engaged in regular firefights with the Israeli army in support of its Islamist ally Hamas. Hezbollah has stepped up its attacks since the killing of a high-ranking Hezbollah commander on Tuesday.
The Gaza War was triggered by Hamas’ major attack on Israel on October 7, in which Islamist fighters killed 1,194 people and took 251 people hostage in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli sources.
In response, Israel has since launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip. According to figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 37,290 people have been killed so far.