"Difficult and unprecedented" event.. The occupation army admits the killing of 4 soldiers in an ambush in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza

The Israeli occupation army admitted today, Saturday, that 4 soldiers from the Nahal Brigade were killed and an officer and a soldier were seriously injured during battles in the northern Gaza Strip.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the four soldiers were killed by a powerful bomb explosion in Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip. It said that the explosion targeted a patrol of the deputy commander of the Nahal Brigade, who was injured in the attack, according to the Walla website.

The Israeli newspaper indicated that the army is investigating the possibility that the militants reached the location of the attack on the soldiers through a tunnel that has not yet been discovered, and quoted sources as saying that the area where the ambush was carried out in Beit Hanoun had been cleared by the army and was under its full control.

For its part, Israeli Channel 12 said that the Beit Hanoun attack was a double ambush that included a mine detonation and a shooting attack on the Israeli force.

The channel indicated that an initial investigation confirms that the evacuation of the dead and wounded soldiers from Beit Hanoun was complicated and under gunfire from the militants.

"Our hearts are broken by the deaths of four soldiers in today's fighting in Gaza," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said of the attack, adding that the war "continues to exact a very heavy and painful price, as we lost 10 soldiers last week alone."

While Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz commented, saying, "A very difficult evening for Israel after we received the news of the killing of 4 of our best sons," as he put it.

Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We are saddened by the killing of four of our soldiers in northern Gaza."

For its part, Israeli Channel 13 reported that 50 Israeli soldiers were killed, including 11 in Beit Hanoun, since the start of the operation in the northern Gaza Strip. It also indicated that 400 soldiers have been killed to date since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

This came after Israeli media reported on Saturday evening that 4 soldiers were killed and others were injured as a result of a mine explosion in an Israeli force in the northern Gaza Strip. Settler platforms on social media also spoke of a larger number of dead and injured.

Before that, the municipality of the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank said that a soldier from the settlement in the Nahal Brigade was killed during battles in the Gaza Strip.

It was not clear whether the soldier killed from Ma'ale Adumim was one of the four announced dead, or a fifth dead in a separate incident.

Difficult and unprecedented

Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian media quoted settler-affiliated platforms as saying that 7 Israeli soldiers were killed and about 30 others were injured, including 11 who sustained serious and critical injuries.

A patrol of the deputy commander of the Nahal Brigade was driving on a side street in an area described by the Israeli army as “cleansed,” meaning that the resistance has been completely eliminated, in Beit Hanoun, the northernmost part of the Gaza Strip and a short distance from the border overlooking the Israeli settlements.
A powerful explosive device exploded... pic.twitter.com/fKX2vMtvK6

— Tamer | Tamer (@tamerqdh) January 11, 2025

These platforms reported that the seven dead were 4 from the Nahal Brigade, 2 from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, and 1 from the Givati Brigade.

The platforms also reported the evacuation of about 30 officers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, and broadcast images of Israeli soldiers evacuating dead and wounded soldiers on stretchers to a helicopter.

Settler platforms reported that a "very difficult" event occurred today in the Gaza Strip, and that it was almost "unprecedented" in terms of the number of dead and wounded.

Israeli sources reported that a senior officer with the rank of brigadier general was seriously injured in the explosion of a tunnel opening in the northern Gaza Strip.

The occupation army did not issue an immediate comment on what was reported by the Israeli media and settler platforms regarding the new losses.

During the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the occupation has acknowledged to date the killing of 835 officers and soldiers, in addition to thousands of wounded and physically and psychologically disabled people as a result of the war.

Source: Al Jazeera