Scores of Israeli Soldiers Killed, Wounded in Hamas Operations in Gaza

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Wednesday that its fighters targeted a military unit consisting of seven Israeli soldiers with an anti-personnel explosive device in the Mashrou junction area, east of Rafah, on Tuesday, resulting in deaths and injuries among the troops.

According to the statement, Israeli helicopters were deployed to evacuate the casualties.

In the same area, the Qassam fighters detonated a booby-trapped home when an Israeli force consisting of 10 soldiers stormed the place a day earlier. According to the statement, the 10 soldiers were either killed or injured in the Monday attack and were later evacuated by Israeli helicopters.

The group also stated that it killed and injured an Israeli engineering unit consisting of eight soldiers near the Deir Yassin junction in al-Janina neighborhood, east of Rafah, on July 17, using two anti-personnel explosive devices.

In mid-July, the Qassam Brigades said, the resistance fighters had lured Israeli troops into a booby-trapped house in the Shawka area, east of Rafah, and detonated it upon their arrival.

Moreover, the Qassam Brigades stated that it had detonated an armored personnel carrier in the north of the southern city of Khan Yunis on July 12, using a “highly explosive” device, leaving an unspecified number of forces killed and injured.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Qassam Brigades released video footage showing the aforementioned operations as well as the targeting of a Merkava tank with a “Yassin 105” shell.

The footage also showed its fighters detonating Israeli military vehicles at close range in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Among the operations documented in the video was the detonation of an explosive device inside a tank.

The video also showed the process of monitoring and planting explosive devices along the routes of invading Israeli vehicles and other preparation that preceded the military operations.

Israel has massacred at least 59,219 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October 2023, according to estimates by the Health Ministry of Gaza.