Al-Qassam Brigades claim deaths, injuries among Israeli army in Gaza’s Shejaiya

By Omar al-Othmani

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Saturday that they inflicted casualties on Israeli army forces advancing in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.

In a statement on Telegram, Al-Qassam said: “In a pre-planned ambush, our fighters detonated an anti-personnel device against a Zionist force infiltrating the Shejaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.”

They added that the explosion resulted in casualties among the Israeli forces, “including fatalities and injuries.”

The statement also mentioned an Israeli helicopter landing for evacuation purposes.

Minutes earlier, Al-Qassam reported another statement on Telegram, indicating that they had “targeted the invading enemy forces in Shejaiya with several rounds of 120 mm mortar shells, causing direct casualties among them.”

The Israeli military had initiated a ground operation in Shejaiya on Wednesday “to dismantle Hamas infrastructure,” which it claimed remained active in the area, the broadcasting authority reported.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Rania Abu Shamala