By Ali Karbalaei

Hamas kills 10 Israeli soldiers

February 13, 2024 - 22:33

TEHRAN- The Israeli military has confirmed that three more troops, including a senior officer and a battalion commander, have been killed whilst fighting in Gaza on Monday. Two others have sustained serious injuries.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army named the troops that had been killed in combat by the Palestinian resistance in southern Gaza. 

They are Lieutenant Colonel Netanel Yaacov Elkouby, who was the battalion commander; Major Yair Cohen, who was the deputy company commander; and Sergeant Ziv Chen.

On Monday, the Israeli military announced that two more troops had been killed during fighting in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis on Sunday. 

The announcements follow a video clip published by the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades, which shows resistance fighters clashing with the Israeli occupation troops from zero distance near Khan Younis. 

Al-Qassam confirmed that the clashes "eliminated" 10 Israeli troops, which has raised questions about whether the Israeli military would have announced the latest casualties if Hamas had not published a video. 

Also in the same area, al-Qassam fighters were able to detonate an anti-personnel device against an Israeli ground force, leaving fatalities and injuries to the Israeli unit, according to a brief statement published by the Palestinian resistance. 

The al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also confirmed that its fighters set up a deadly ambush for an Israeli force at dawn on Monday, southeast of the Khan Younis governorate.

The brigades outlined details of the operation, saying that "immediately upon the Israeli force’s arrival at the site of the ambush, our fighters surprised it with machine guns, anti-personnel shells, and explosive devices, and left its members dead and wounded."

Other Palestinian resistance factions operating in Gaza have also detailed their own operations against the Israeli ground forces, announcing casualties among the Israeli army and inflicting losses on the regime's military vehicles. 

According to data by the Israeli news outlet 0404, the Army’s fatalities since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 570 (soldiers and commanders), while the death toll since the start of the ground invasion has reached at least 235.

The website quoted figures published by the Israeli occupation army, which confirmed that almost 3,000 Israeli troops have also been injured since the beginning of the war, including around 500 who have suffered permanent injuries.

The Zionist regime has imposed very strict censorship on media publishing any numbers of those killed and injured as a result of ground battles in the Gaza Strip in what experts say is an effort to hide the extent of the Israeli army losses.

However, the data and video clips being broadcast by the Palestinian resistance from inside Gaza indicate that the losses incurred by the Israeli military in the enclave are far higher than what is being announced.

Israeli media has already cited hospital sources in January as saying 4,000 of the regime's troops have been disabled for life since 7 October last year. 

The same hospital sources estimated that thousands of others would suffer severe injuries if the war on Gaza were to continue for several more months. One Israeli media outlet estimated that the casualty rate could reach up to 30,000 injured troops. 

Analysts also argue that the regime's government is wary of sharing casualty figures with an Israeli public that is already polarized, protesting in the streets and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
 

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