2024-01-23 06:52:06
At least 21 Israeli soldiers died during the bloodiest attack by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza (EUROPA PRESS)
An attack in central Gaza killed 21 Israeli soldiers, the military said Tuesday, in the deadliest incident for troops in the three-month war once morest the Hamas insurgent group.
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Reservists were preparing explosive charges to demolish two buildings in central Gaza on Monday when an insurgent fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a nearby tank, army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. The explosion activated the charges prematurely and the two two-story structures collapsed with the soldiers inside.
The high death toll in Monday’s incident might give new impetus to calls for Israel to pause, or even end, its offensive. In the past, large Israeli death tolls led the government to suspend other military campaigns.
Israel confirmed that two buildings, which were being prepared to be demolished, imploded prematurely with the reservists inside (EUROPA PRESS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel crushes Hamas and frees the more than 100 hostages still held captive in the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli population is increasingly divided over the possibility of achieving these objectives.
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Relatives of the hostages and many of their supporters have called on authorities to reach a ceasefire, saying time is running out for them to return home alive. On Monday, dozens of relatives of the captives stormed a parliamentary committee meeting demanding a deal for the release of their loved ones.
The high death toll in Monday’s incident might give new impetus to calls for Israel to interrupt, or even end, its offensive (EUROPA PRESS)
Israel launched its offensive once morest Hamas following the insurgent group’s incursion into the south of the country on October 7, in which more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage. More than 100 were freed in November during a week-long ceasefire in a swap for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
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The Israeli campaign has caused widespread destruction, displaced around 85% of the 2.3 million residents in Gaza and claimed the lives of more than 25,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled territory. The United Nations and international agencies say the fighting has led to a humanitarian disaster and that a quarter of the population is hungry.
(AP)
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