Hamas says 5 Israeli soldiers killed in Rafah tunnel explosion

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Hamas claimed to have killed five Israeli soldiers in a tunnel explosion on Thursday in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters had detonated a tunnel shaft near Tal Zourob in western Rafah, leaving five soldiers dead.

Hamas also claimed to have attacked with anti-tank shells two Israeli tanks and two bulldozers east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the claim.

The Israeli army said early Thursday that its forces had killed three Palestinians for allegedly trying to sneak into Israel from Rafah.

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

Nearly 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

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

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara