Hebrew Channel 12 said there are many questions about what happened to the “Tiger” personnel carrier in Rafah on Saturday. Destroyed by anti-missilesEight soldiers on board were killed.
The channel confirmed, “Forces capable of harming the military in Gaza are still waging a guerrilla war.”
The Times of Israel reportedHe pointed out that Sunday’s attack in the town of Rafah was the worst Israeli forces have been exposed to in the Strip since last January.
The newspaper reported that the army’s initial investigation revealed that all the soldiers in the armored vehicle belonging to the “601” battalion attached to the “Tiger” model of the Combat Engineering Corps were killed.
At around five o’clock on Saturday morning, the investigation indicated that the soldiers were “returning after a night of military operations against the Hamas movement in the Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, where they killed around 50 Hamas fighters”.
The newspaper added that troops were moving towards military-held buildings to rest after the military operation.
The targeted “Nimr” armored vehicle was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy before it suffered a major explosion.
According to the investigation, it was not immediately clear whether the target was targeted with an improvised explosive device or whether Hamas members approached the vehicle with an explosive device and planted it directly.
Tough day
For his part, Israeli National Defense Minister Itamar Ben Gvir considered today (Saturday) a difficult and painful day in Israel, “after hearing the sad and tragic news that 8 of our fighters were killed in Rafah.”
He stressed that Israel must continue to fight until the elimination of Hamas and the return of all kidnapped people.
In response, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smodrich said, “Israelis are suffering terrible pain after the fall of our heroic sons who fell so that our sons could live in safety.”
Smodrich added, “The high cost of war compels us to finish it until the enemy is completely destroyed.”
According to Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, a deputy company commander and 7 fighters from the engineering division were killed in a large blast, indicating that their names would be released after the blast victims’ families were notified.
Later, Israeli Channel 12 quoted Hagari as saying, “Israel will not be able to rescue all the abducted people in Gaza through military operations.”
The Times of Israel newspaper said“Among the dead was a Druze Arab, Captain Wasim Mahmoud, 23, a deputy company commander in the 601st Battalion of the Combat Engineering Corps from Beit Jinn.
Criticism within the Army
For its part, the Israeli “Wala” website said on Saturday that there was widespread criticism among reserve force officers against the political leadership after eight soldiers were killed.
The website added that after the operation, there was a feeling among Reserve officers that many missions in the Gaza Strip lacked a clear target, and that the entire Rafah operation was progressing “incompletely”. Finished fast.
An Israeli official was also quoted as saying that Rafa’s actions have become the focus of criticism in the field and should have been carried out in a different way.
Al-Qassam Brigades announced earlier on Saturday that its fighters had killed a group of Israeli soldiers who were ambushed in a joint operation against invading army vehicles in Rafah, a Saudi neighborhood.
Al-Qassam D9 targeted the bulldozer with an Al-Yasin 105 missile, killing and wounding its crew, and upon the arrival of the rescue force, it targeted the Tiger troop carrier with an Al-Yasin 105 missile. , leading to its destruction and the killing of all its members.
