Hamas claims to have killed Israeli soldiers in Gaza ambush

By Mohammed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas claimed Thursday to have killed and injured Israeli soldiers in an ambush in the southern Gaza Strip.

The group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters had drawn Israeli soldiers into two underground tunnels before detonating them in the Yibna refugee camp in Rafah.

It said several soldiers were killed and injured in the ambush.

Hamas said another Israeli soldier was sniped east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

There has been no confirmation from the Israeli army.

Israel has continued a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 39,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

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

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala