Tue 23 January 2024:
Israel’s army has revised up its death toll and says a total of 21 soldiers were killed in an attack in central Gaza in the last 24 hours.
It makes it the largest single loss of life for the Israeli military since the war began.
The chief spokesperson for the IDF, Daniel Hagari, said the killed soldiers had been preparing explosives to demolish two buildings when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby.
This reportedly set off an explosion prematurely and caused the buildings to collapse on the soldiers, all of whom were said to be reservists.
A medical evacuation team was deployed but it was a “complicated operation, which took place until the last hours,” Hagari said, indicating the difficulty in extracting bodies buried under the rubble.
Hagari was quoted as saying the incident took place in central Gaza, close to the kibbutz of Kissufim on the Israeli side of the border, at 4pm local time (2pm GMT) on Monday.
Top Row (from L-R): Cpt. (res.) Ariel Mordechay Wollfstal, 28; Master Sgt. (res.) Elkana Vizel, 35; Cpt. (res.) Nir Binyamin, 29; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Mark Kononovich, 35; Sgt. First Class (res.) Sagi Idan, 24; Sgt. First Class (res.) Israel Socol, 24: Middle Row (from L-R): Sgt. First Class (res.) Hadar Kapeluk, 23; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Matan Lazar, 32; Sgt. First Class (res.) Elkana Yehuda Sfez, 25; Sgt. First Class (res.) Ahmad Abu Latif, 26: Bottom Row (from L-R): Sgt. First Class (res.) Cedrick Garin, 23; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Sergey Gontmaher, 37; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Rafael Elias Mosheyoff, 33; Sgt. First Class (res.) Nicholas Berger, 22; Master Sgt. (res.) Yoav Levi, 29; Sgt. First Class (res.) Yuval Lopez, 27 PHOTO: Times of Israel.
Israeli president says ‘unbearably difficult morning’ after 21 soldiers killed
Explaining how 21 Israeli soldiers died in a single day of combat in Gaza on Monday, he said “intense battles are taking place in an extremely challenging space”.
The fatalities occurred near the Israel-Gaza border when Israeli soldiers were targeted by RPG fire, while a nearby building simultaneously collapsed following a separate explosion, according to Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari.
Netanyahu vows Israel will continue fighting in Gaza until ‘absolute victory’
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”, after the deadliest day for Israeli forces since the start of the ground offensive.
“Yesterday we experienced one of the most difficult days since the war erupted,” Netanyahu was quoted by Reuters as saying. “In the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory.”
He said the military was investigating the incident in which 21 soldiers were killed when buildings exploded in central Gaza, bringing the single-day Israeli death toll to 24.
Support for the war remains high among Israelis, but opinion polls show lagging support for Netanyahu and his far-right coalition.
Weekly Saturday night rallies demanding the release of hostages have been supplemented in recent weeks by growing calls for elections.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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