Eight Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza armoured vehicle blast

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in Rafah on Saturday when their armoured vehicle was hit by a “major explosion”.

The incident in southern Gaza is one of the deadliest for the country’s troops in eight months of war.

One of the casualties has been named as Captain Wassem Mahmud, 23. The names of the other seven were due to be released later.

The soldiers had just been involved in an overnight offensive against Hamas in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighbourhood, during which troops killed some 50 gunmen, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

They were returning to their quarters in a convoy when the explosion occurred at around 5am on Saturday morning.

Their Namer armoured combat engineering vehicle was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy.

Cause of blast unclear

Preliminary enquiries suggested the vehicle “got hit as a result of an explosion of a side bomb,” the military said in a statement, adding that the magnitude of the blast suggested that the bomb had set off a secondary explosion.

“The explosion was significant and may have been caused by the initiation of the explosive material on the vehicle,” the military said.

“There was a very serious damage to the vehicle and those in it, and a large explosion making it difficult to identify and locate the bodies.”

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing later on Saturday that “there was a strong explosion”.

He said the blast was “apparently from an explosive device planted in the area or from the firing of an anti-tank missile”.

The Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said it “carried out a complex ambush against enemy vehicles” operating in Tal al-Sultan.

The terror group claimed it had attacked a military bulldozer, which became engulfed in flames.

When rescue troops arrived, they then struck an armored personnel carrier, killing the soldiers, it said.

The fatalities represent the greatest number of Israeli soldiers killed in a single incident since January, when 21 died in central Gaza, and brings the total death toll in the ground operation agianst Hamas to 307.

‘Heartbreaking price of just war’

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the deaths were the “heartbreaking price in our just war.”

He insisted that “despite the heavy and staggering cost, we must stick to the goals of the war.”

The incident comes as Israel increases its ground offensive on Rafah over the concerns of the US and other allies, who have urged it to do more to limit the high civilian death toll.

Some of the fiercest fighting has been seen in Tal al-Sultan, where Hamas said Friday its fighters targeted Israeli tanks with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, while the IDF said it found tunnels used by the terror group.

In Tel Aviv, anti-government protests have been ongoing for months, with many demonstrators calling for the immediate return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resignation.

On the Hahalacha Bridge in central Tel Aviv, a group of parents of combat soldiers staged a protest over a major motorway to denounce the government’s lack of war strategy.

Many cars sounded their horns in support as they held Israeli flags and signs saying “parents of combat soldiers scream loudly - enough!” Some mothers dyed their palms red to symbolise that the “government has blood on its hands.”

“F--k Bibi!” shouted one driver as he lowered his window to shout support to the demonstrators.

A growing number of parents have been breaking social taboos in Israel’s security conscious society to speak out over the past few months about the deployment of their children to Gaza’s brutal warzone, accusing Mr Netanyahu’s government of prolonging the conflict for political reasons.

“In the first six months, we were supportive. We believed that it was important for them to fight for our safety. But now they do not need to be there,” said Hagar Moshe Kedem, whose son is currently stationed in Gaza.

She said the deaths of the eight soldiers on Saturday had tragically been lost in vain.

Ms Moshe Kedem took a microphone to address the small crowd. “Stop sacrificing our children!” she shouted. The parents circled around her crying “Shame! Shame! Shame!”