Explosion Claims Lives of Israeli Forces Clearing Gaza Buffer Zone

Monday marked the deadliest day for the Israeli military during its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, with 24 soldiers losing their lives. Israeli officials reported that about 20 soldiers died in an explosion as they were preparing to demolish buildings, a step aimed at establishing a buffer zone with the Palestinian enclave.

The deaths plunged Israel into a state of mourning as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces intensifying domestic divisions over how to proceed in the war as well as growing international condemnation of the civilian death toll in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian conditions there.

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Israeli Leaders Express Grief Over Soldier Deaths and Vow to Continue Until Hamas Defeat

Israeli leaders expressed heartbreak over the deaths but stated that they would continue the fighting until they defeated Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel had “experienced one of the most difficult days since the start of the war,” but that “we will not stop fighting until complete victory.”

The prime minister also said the military was investigating the events leading up to the blast that killed the soldiers, all of them reservists, near Gaza’s border with Israel. “We need to learn the necessary lessons and do everything to preserve our soldiers’ lives,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday.

With no end of the war in sight, and the United Nations reporting that more than half a million people in Gaza were facing “catastrophic hunger,” the Israeli military pressed ahead with its offensive. On Tuesday, it said it had encircled the largest city in southern Gaza, Khan Younis, in a major campaign marked by intense gun battles and bombardments in an area packed with civilians. Many Gazans, seeking safety in Khan Younis, had fled their homes in other parts of the territory.

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Clashes in Khan Younis: U.N. Shelter Hit, Casualties Reported Amid Unverified Military Claims

On Tuesday, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of a Palestinian aid agency, reported that heavy fighting around one of its largest shelters in Khan Younis resulted in the shelter being hit, causing the death of at least six people and injuring many more. Mr. Lazzarini did not say which side he believed was responsible for the deaths and injuries. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.N. report.

The Israeli military described the area where the fighting was taking place as a “significant stronghold” of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade. It said that it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters over the previous 24 hours. The military’s claims could not be independently verified.

In a statement, the military said its forces had targeted “terrorist cells” carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as well as militants who had launched anti-tank missiles and had rigged buildings with explosives. “Ready-to-launch rockets, military compounds, shafts, and numerous weapons were located during the activity,” the statement said.

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