Hamas’ armed wing says it killed 4 Israeli soldiers in northwest Gaza

By Murat Basoglu

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said Thursday it killed four Israeli soldiers in northwest Gaza City.

The group said on Telegram that fighters managed to “snipe 4 Zionist soldiers northwest of Gaza City” and targeted “3 Israeli vehicles with Yassin 105 shells in the Shuja'iya neighborhood east of Gaza City.”

It said fighters “targeted during the day 4 armored vehicles and 2 Israeli tanks of the Merkava type north of Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip with Yassin 105 shells, as well as targeting two Merkava tanks with Yassin 105 shells south-east of Khan Yunis.”

The Brigades later said: “Their fighters destroyed an Israeli tank in Khan Yunis with a Yassin 105 shell, resulting in it catching fire.”

The group announced early Thursday the killing of “at least 10 officers and soldiers of the Israeli army after targeting them with powerful explosive devices east of Gaza City.”

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the statements by the Al-Qassam Brigades, including the claim that four soldiers were killed in Gaza City.

The sniper operation is not the first by the Al-Qassam Brigades against Israeli forces involved in ground battles in the enclave, which began Oct. 27.

The Israeli army revealed early Thursday an increase in the number of officers and soldiers injured since the beginning of its ground onslaught in Gaza to 648, and fatalities at 116.

At least “445 officers and soldiers have been killed since the start of the war on Oct. 7,” according to data published by the Israeli army on its website.

It said that “29 Israeli officers and soldiers were wounded in the battles in Gaza in the past 24 hours.”

The Israeli army only allows the publication of the names of officers and soldiers on its casualty lists who are permitted to be named.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul