TEHRAN - The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades, has announced it has targeted the Kissufim military site, home to Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with a rocket barrage.

Israeli media reported that a fire broke out at the site following the attack.

Earlier, al-Qassam fighters had successfully detonated an explosive device in a previously booby-trapped tunnel targeting an Israeli infantry unit, resulting in casualties among them, east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

Later on, Israeli media acknowledged the tunnel explosion operation, reporting about casualties among soldiers evacuated to hospitals.

According to the al-Qassam Brigades, its fighters also oversaw the landing of a Black Hawk helicopter to evacuate the dead and wounded Israeli soldiers east of the Zeitoun neighborhood. 

Additionally, the al-Qassam brigades shelled a gathering of invading Israeli forces east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City with multiple 120mm mortar rounds.

The Israeli military has been pounding Zeitoun by air and ground forces. It has invaded the area a number of times since the start of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip more than eight months ago. 

The al-Qassem resistance fighters also targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a Yasin 105 shell in a neighborhood of Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah city in southern Gaza.

Also in Rafah, the al-Qassam brigades targeted occupation forces stationed in the south and southwest of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood with mortar shells.

Hebrew news media sources have reported that an anti-tank guided missile was fired at an Israeli Namer vehicle, a heavily protected armored personnel carrier, in southern Gaza.

According to Israeli reports, the attack triggered an immediate explosion and set the military vehicle ablaze, which resulted in the death of eight Israeli soldiers. 

Israeli authorities have imposed strict media censorship on the war against Gaza and Israeli army casualties. 

The Israeli military has admitted that 650 officers and soldiers have been killed since October 7 last year. 

However, experts believe the true figure is much higher. 

Last week, Israel's Channel 12, citing hospital data, revealed 20,000 troops have been injured in Gaza since October 7, and that 8,298 have been classified as disabled. 

Israeli opposition leaders have exchanged stinging accusations against each other over the war on Gaza with rising criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his closest cabinet ministers over the failure of the war now reaching its ninth month. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid denounced Netanyahu for putting his political survival and attempts to avoid a prison sentence over a failed military operation in Gaza and Israeli captives held in the enclave. 

As the genocidal war on Gaza drags on, the Israeli occupation has also incurred other huge losses including global isolation and damage to its economy. 

On May 30, the head of the Israeli central bank, Amir Yaron, said the cost of the ongoing war in Gaza will amount to approximately $67.5 billion of the Israeli budget for 2025, describing the costs as "a heavy burden".