The Israeli army has said that, on Monday afternoon, 24 of its soldiers were killed during the ongoing fighting in Khan Yunis, a southern city in the Gaza Strip: this is the highest number of internal losses in the Israeli army since the beginning of the invasion of land of the Strip, which began last October 27th.
According to Daniel Hagari, an army spokesperson, around 4pm local time (3pm in Italy) a grenade hit an Israeli tank and immediately afterwards two buildings exploded: some of the killed soldiers were inside them , and others were nearby. In total 21 soldiers died. Hagari has said that the buildings probably exploded due to some mines that the Israeli army itself had placed inside them, as part of an operation that should have led to the demolition of the area. The soldiers were all reservists, i.e. citizens who have completed compulsory military service and who can be called up to temporarily return to the army for exercises or in the event of a crisis. Three other soldiers were killed during another attack also in the south of the Strip.
According to the Israeli army, 217 soldiers have been killed since the start of ground operations in the Strip.
– Read also: Israel’s attacks on Khan Yunis hospitals