Seven Israeli soldiers killed in armoured vehicle blast in Gaza, says military
The Israeli military says seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza Strip when a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armoured vehicle, while Palestinian health officials reported that 79 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the strip.
The attack on the Israeli troops, which occurred on Tuesday, was one of the deadliest for the army in Gaza in months, and quickly drew the nation's attention back to the grinding conflict with the Hamas militant group after nearly two weeks of war between Israel and Iran.
Among the 79 reported killed in Gaza were 33 people who died while trying to access aid.
Israel has been operating in Gaza since the Hamas militant group's October 7 2023 attack on Israel.
US-led ceasefire efforts have repeatedly stalled.
Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the army's chief spokesman, said the soldiers were attacked on Tuesday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where the army has operated on and off throughout much of the war.
'Helicopters and rescue forces were sent to the spot. They made attempts to rescue the fighters, but without success,' he said.
The army said another soldier was seriously wounded in a separate incident in Khan Younis.
It gave no further details, but Hamas claimed on its Telegram channel it had ambushed Israeli soldiers taking cover inside a residential building in the area.
More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began with the October 7 2023 Hamas attack, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza.
The initial Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and 251 others were taken hostage.
Some 50 hostages remain in captivity, at least 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
The Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza and killed more than 56,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, a branch of the Hamas government.
The death toll is by far the highest in any round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children.
The ministry said the dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel resumed fighting on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, which operates in heavily populated areas.
Israel says more than 20,000 Hamas militants have been killed, though it has provided no evidence to support that claim.
Hamas has not commented on its casualties.
Israeli forces shot and killed a 66-year-old Palestinian woman during a raid on Wednesday in east Jerusalem, her husband and a local Palestinian official said.
Joudah Al-Obeidi, a 67-year-old resident of the neighbourhood's Shuafat refugee camp, said his wife Zahia Al-Obeidi was standing on the roof of their home when Israeli forces stormed the camp and shot her in the head.
He said she had posed no threat.
'It is a crime,' he told The Associated Press. 'What danger did a sick 66-year-old woman pose to them?'
Israeli police said they were investigating the incident, saying a woman had arrived at a military checkpoint with 'serious penetrating injuries' and was pronounced dead.
They said Israeli forces fired at 'rioters' who threw rocks and heavy objects at them during the operation, with one officer admitted to hospital with a head injury from a large rock.
Marouf Al-Refai, the Palestinian official, said Israeli forces stormed the Shuafat refugee camp overnight, killing Ms al-Obeidi with a shot to the head at around 10pm local time and took her body away.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Middle East war.
It considers the area to be part of its capital – a move that is not internationally recognised.
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