Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Tuesday that the Israel Protection Forces had launched an investigation into the ”catastrophe” that led to the deaths of 21 troopers in Gaza yesterday.
”The IDF has launched an investigation of the catastrophe. We should be taught the required classes and do all the things to protect the lives of our warriors,” Netanyahu mentioned in an announcement on the incident, which made for the Israeli army’s deadliest single day in Gaza for the reason that begin of its floor operations on Oct. 27.
Netanyahu vowed Monday, after information of the troopers’ deaths first got here to gentle, that the IDF would proceed its struggle on till ”absolute victory” over Hamas.
The 21 IDF reservists had been killed when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank, setting off a secondary explosion that introduced two buildings down onto the troopers. They had been amongst a complete of 24 Israeli troopers killed Monday in Gaza, which army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed had been the largest single-day loss in virtually three months of floor warfare.
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Netanyahu on Monday mourned the loss, saying in a social media submit that it had been ”one of many hardest days for the reason that outbreak of the battle,” however including: ”Within the identify of our heroes, and for our personal lives, we is not going to cease preventing till absolute victory.”
The IDF mentioned on Tuesday, in the meantime, that troopers had managed to utterly encircle the southern Gaza metropolis of Khan Younis, the place a lot of the deadliest preventing and airstrikes have been centered in latest days. The Hamas-run Ministry of Well being in Gaza mentioned Tuesday that through the previous 24 hours alone, 195 individuals had been killed within the densely populated Palestinian territory.
Israel accuses Hamas of working from Al Nasser Hospital, the most important well being facility in Khan Younis, and of basing a few of its operations within the metropolis.
1000’s of Palestinians who had sought shelter on the sprawling hospital have fled this week, with sufferers and displaced civilians describing relentless air and artillery strikes as IDF forces shut in on the power.
The Hamas-run well being ministry says greater than 25,400 individuals have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in retaliation for the unprecedented Oct. 7 terror assault by the Palestinian militant group, which is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union. Hamas officers don’t distinguish between combatant and civilian deaths. Israel says Hamas killed some 1,200 individuals with its October assault, and seized about 240 others as hostages.
Reuters/Knesset Channel
About half of these hostages have been freed, however Israel says 132 are nonetheless believed to be held captive in Gaza. Strain from the remaining hostages’ members of the family on Netanyahu’s authorities, to rescue their family members as a precedence within the battle, even when it means negotiating, has risen sharply. A gaggle of members of the family stormed right into a parliamentary assembly Monday and shouted angrily at lawmakers, demanding extra be achieved to make sure that their family members come residence.