Israeli army says 5 soldiers killed in Hamas ambush in southern Gaza

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush set up by the Hamas group in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said on Monday.

A military statement said the soldiers belonging to the 5th Brigade’s 8111st Battalion were killed when an explosive device was detonated near a school in the city.

According to the army, helicopter gunships and fighter jets were called in to carry out strikes against Palestinian gunmen who had opened fire from the school.

The Israeli army said 433 soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 18,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 49,229 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara