Gaza war: Israeli tank fire kills five soldiers in northern Gaza, army says

The Israeli military says five soldiers were killed by Israeli tank fire in northern Gaza, in one of the deadliest such incidents since the war against Hamas began in October.

An initial investigation revealed that two tanks had fired on a building in the Jabalia refugee camp where troops had gathered.

Troops returned to the area this week after withdrawing, saying Hamas had regrouped there.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the fighting and bombings.

Fighting is also raging around the southern town of Rafah, from where nearly 600,000 people have fled since the Israeli operation began ten days ago. More than a million displaced people have found refuge there.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said five soldiers serving in the 202nd Battalion of the Parachute Brigade were killed Wednesday evening in the Jabalia camp “as a result of fire from our forces.”

Two tanks in the area fired two shells at a building used by the deputy battalion commander, according to a statement.

“From the initial investigation…it appears that the tank fighters of the ultra-Orthodox Hetz parachute company identified a rifle barrel protruding from one of the windows of the building and ordered themselves to fire on the building “, it said.

Seven other soldiers were injured by the tank’s fire, three of them seriously.

This toll brings to 278 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza on October 27.

Another 348 soldiers were among the 1,200 people killed in Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, which sparked the war. Some were also taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Since then, more than 35,270 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

According to the IDF website, 44 of the soldiers killed in Gaza on Wednesday – or 15% of the total – died as a result of what it describes as “operational accidents”.

Twenty-two of them were killed by “friendly fire”, five died due to “firing irregularities” and 17 as a result of “accidents”, including incidents involving weapons and trampling.

On Thursday afternoon, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the al-Faluja neighborhood of Jabalia camp.

Earlier, he said intense strikes took place in the al-Hoja Street area, causing its “complete destruction.”

Hamas’ military wing said Thursday it fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli personnel carrier in the Block 2 area of ​​Jabalia camp and targeted armored bulldozers with explosive devices east of Jabalia town .

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told troops in Gaza on Tuesday that Israeli forces were “striking widely and strongly” in Jabalia.

“We see attempts (by Hamas) to hold on and rebuild, so we need to tackle this problem again and prove that we will come back every time,” he added.

Wafa also cited medical sources as saying that more than 30 civilians, including 10 children, had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings in neighboring Gaza City. Palestine Post photojournalist Mahmoud Jahjouh and several members of his family were reportedly among the dead.

The Israeli army reduced its operations in Jabalia, Gaza City and the rest of the north in January after saying it had “dismantled” Hamas battalions there. But that left a power vacuum in which the group could rebuild.

An estimated 300,000 people trapped in the devastated region are also experiencing “widespread famine” due to a lack of humanitarian aid, according to the head of the World Food Program.

But the State Department said the situation in Gaza continued to deteriorate and urged Israel to do more to provide lasting aid to both southern and northern Gaza.

Spokesman Vedant Patel said the flow of fuel aid to the territory through the Rafah crossing from Egypt was “completely interrupted”.

The comments were echoed by the UN humanitarian chief, who told the Reuters news agency that the humanitarian operation was “stalled”.

“The food stocks that were already in place in southern Gaza are running out. I think there is almost nothing left,” said Martin Griffiths.

Meanwhile, in southern Gaza on Thursday, new Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in southern and central Rafah, Wafa reported.

The Israeli army has ordered the evacuation of a number of neighborhoods since May 6, when it launched what it called “precise operations” against Hamas in “specific areas of the east of Rafah and the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing”.

Israel says it must send troops to the city because Hamas’s remaining battalions are based there. But the UN and Western powers say a widespread attack could lead to significant civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel’s defense minister said Thursday that the Rafah operation would continue “as additional forces enter.”

“Tunnels have already been destroyed by our forces and more tunnels will be destroyed soon. This activity will intensify,” he added. “We are wearing down Hamas.”

He spoke hours before a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), during which South Africa asked judges to issue additional interim measures against Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah.

The hearing in The Hague is part of a case accusing Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected the allegation as baseless.