The Israeli military has announced that nine of its soldiers were killed and an additional four sustained serious injuries while fighting members of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The army said in a statement on Wednesday that two of the soldiers served in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, while the rest of the soldiers were part of the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion.
The deaths take the number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza to 11 since the start of the war on the besieged enclave.
The Givati soldiers were killed after an armored vehicle they were in was hit by an anti-tank guided missile fired by Hamas on Tuesday. Another four soldiers were wounded in the same incident, including one seriously.
The 77th Battalion soldiers were killed after their tank drove over an explosive device. Another two soldiers were seriously hurt in that incident.
Also on Tuesday, another soldier from Givati’s Rotem Battalion was seriously wounded in separate clashes with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
The total number of Israeli troops killed since October 7 when the Tel Aviv regime when Israel launched its aerial campaign against the Gaza Strip has climbed to at least 326, according to the military.
Fierce confrontations ongoing south of Zeitoun neighborhood
Meanwhile, local sources reported that Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces are engaged in heavy fighting south of the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.
There were also reports of Israeli incursions to the north and northwest of the Gaza Strip and the south and southeast of Gaza City, while shelling continues in northern Gaza.
An Israeli incursion was also attempted in the Abasan area, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Gaza Strip under total communications blackout
Moreover, all communications to the Gaza Strip have been cut-off for the second time in one week.
“We regret to announce a complete interruption of all communications and Internet services with the Gaza Strip, due to international routes that were previously reconnected being cut off again,” the Palestinian telecoms company announced.
Israel severed phone and internet services to Gaza on Friday at the start of its ground offensive. Israel had to restore the services in the face of the international outcry.
Arab League chief calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Additionally, Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit has expressed his strong condemnation of the recent Israeli airstrikes that targeted the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians.
In a press statement, Aboul Gheit emphasized that the world’s conscience cannot remain silent in the face of the ongoing bloodshed.
He reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza, stressing that the international community bears responsibility for the loss of lives occurring on a daily basis.
He also emphasized that the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to the region remains a global and UN responsibility.
On October 7, Hamas launched its biggest operation against Israel in years, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank.
The ongoing Israeli massacre has killed 8,610 Palestinians and left more than 23,000 wounded, according to the figure provided on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health in its daily report on the situation in the occupied territories. The figure excludes the casualties from the Israeli attack on Jabalia.
Beside its relentless bombardment, Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the besieged territory into a humanitarian crisis.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution, calling for the implementation of an immediate “humanitarian truce” in Gaza.
The vote at the General Assembly came after the United Nations Security Council failed four times to take action due to the US recurrently casting its veto against relevant resolutions.
