8 soldiers killed in southern Gaza in deadliest attack on Israeli forces in months
JERUSALEM — An explosion in southern Gaza killed eight Israeli soldiers, the military said Saturday, in the deadliest attack on the country’s forces in months.
The attack, coming more than eight months into a grinding war, is likely to fuel new calls from Israeli protesters for a cease-fire. It came as the government confronts widespread anger over exemptions from military service for young ultra-Orthodox men.
Israel launched an air and ground invasion of Gaza in response to an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas and other militants that killed some 1,200; 250 were taken hostage. Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Last summer, Palestinians in Gaza held celebrations for the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha, but amid the Israel-Hamas war, there is hunger and despair.
Saturday’s explosion took place in Rafah, a southern city that Israel has identified as Hamas’ last major stronghold. Israel sent ground troops to the city in early May and has given no indication of when the operation will end.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz paid tribute to the eight soldiers who died.
“They knew they might have to sacrifice their lives, but they did it so we could live in this country. I salute them and hug their families,” Katz wrote in a post on X.
The military said the explosion occurred just after 5 a.m. in the Tal al Sultan area of Rafah. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said it was caused either by an explosive placed by Hamas or by an anti-tank missile.
For months, extremist Israeli group Tzav 9 has been blocking lifesaving aid meant for Palestinians struggling to survive in the war-torn Gaza Strip, U.S. officials say.
In January, 21 Israeli troops were killed in a single attack by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
President Biden this month unveiled a cease-fire proposal that seeks the release of the roughly 120 hostages who remain in Gaza and an end to the fighting. While the international community has broadly embraced the plan, both Israel and Hamas have expressed misgivings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not halt the war until he achieves the goal of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
“Today we paid another heartbreaking price in our just war for the defense of the homeland,” Netanyahu said Saturday.
The war has divided the Israeli public, with tens of thousands taking to the streets each Saturday night to call on the government to reach a deal that would bring the hostages home. The government has pronounced more than 40 of the hostages held by Hamas to be dead, and officials fear that number could grow the longer they remain in captivity.
Disagreements over the endgame could doom the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal if the warring sides aren’t willing to negotiate.
At a rally Saturday evening, participants watched a video message from Andrey Kozlov, who was rescued from Hamas captivity a week ago.
“More than 120 hostages are still there, and I can’t feel all the happiness from this situation, because I was rescued and they were not,” he said, according to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters. “I ask to bring them home as soon as possible. Israel, world, Hamas — I ask you to make a deal as soon as possible.”
Speaking at the weekly gathering of relatives of hostages in Tel Aviv, Rotem Kalderon, son of hostage Ofer Kalderon, said he doesn’t want “to live in a world full of death.”
“I am not ready to live in a country with a government that sends us to settle in the borders and fight in wars and in the end abandons us,” he said. “I’m not ready to live without a father.”
The deadly explosion came days after Netanyahu’s coalition voted in favor of extending the controversial exemptions from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men.
Although the vote was procedural, it caused an uproar at a time when Israel continues to fight Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah militants along the northern border with Lebanon. More than 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting since Oct. 7, according to the military.
Last month, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered an end to government subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men who don’t serve in the army. But Netanyahu’s government, which includes politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties, has found ways to keep money flowing to religious institutions.
Religious Zionists, most believing in a divine right to govern, now have outsize influence in Israel. The war in the Gaza Strip is energizing their settlement push.
The government is under orders to pass a new draft law.
Most Jewish men and women are required to serve in the military from the age of 18. The exemptions granted to religious men have long been a source of contention among the broader public.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was the only member of Netanyahu’s coalition to vote against this week’s legislation. Gallant, a member of the country’s wartime Cabinet, has insisted that all sectors of Israeli society contribute equally during the war in Gaza.
If Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox partners leave the government, the country would be forced into new elections at a time when his popularity is low and his reelection prospects are questionable.
At an anti-government demonstration Saturday, thousands demanded new elections and the release of the hostages.
“The fact that eight soldiers got killed today just emphasizes the fact that we need a change,” said Amir Schnabel, one of the demonstrators. “We can’t live this reality for a long time. If today eight soldiers were killed, more will get killed the next day and the day after. And the only way to make a change is just to protest and bring the government down, and we have to do it as soon as possible. ”
Meanwhile, violence has flared in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted. On Saturday, a 16-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces near the northern city of Nablus, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said. An Israeli security official confirmed that Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinians who were throwing rocks at troops during a counterterrorism operation in the area. He spoke on condition of anonymity, pending a formal announcement by the army.
Jeffery writes for the Associated Press.
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