7 IDF Soldiers Killed in Gaza as Hamas Attacks Palestinians Opposed to Its Continued Rule

Latest Developments

IDF Sustains Losses: The IDF announced that seven soldiers were killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip. The soldiers all served in the IDF’s 605th Combat Engineering Battalion and were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by an explosive device near Khan Younis. Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, “Our soldiers fought heroically and fell during their mission to defend the State of Israel and return our hostages.”
Deadliest Incident in Months: The incident was one of the deadliest for the IDF since Israel resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip after the collapse of the most recent ceasefire in March. According to an initial probe by the IDF, a Hamas terrorist ran up to the Puma armored combat engineering vehicle the soldiers were traveling in, dropping a bomb into an open hatch. The vehicle then caught fire, killing all the soldiers inside. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, emphasizing that it had also fired an anti-tank missile at another vehicle that came to aid the victims.
Gazan Activist Beaten by Hamas: Palestinian opponents of Hamas are reporting that Gazan protestor Ahmad al-Masri was severely beaten by Hamas enforcers. Masri, a Beit Lahiya resident, had been filmed at an anti-Hamas protest holding a sign stating, “We don’t want Hamas. Hamas has destroyed us. Enough!” Hamas has beaten, threatened, kidnapped, tortured, and killed Palestinians protesting the terrorist group’s control of the coastal enclave.

FDD Expert Response

“Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza have demonstrated that their stocks of rockets and other projectiles are severely limited or completely exhausted. However, there appears to be no shortage of arms to carry out attacks against Israeli ground troops. Arms smuggled into the enclave, locally manufactured munitions, and repurposed IDF ordnance have all been employed to injure and kill Israeli soldiers. The persistent use of these weapons in ambushes and ground assaults remains a significant challenge that the IDF has yet to effectively neutralize. Without a shift in operational tactics, such attacks are likely to persist.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

“Hamas was allowed to rule unchallenged for almost two decades. In that time, it was able to turn Gaza into a fortress, cementing its repressive rule. In order to finally get rid of Hamas, ordinary Gazans must decide that they’ve had enough of Hamas’s tyranny. Gazans need a viable alternative to rally around; sadly, however, there do not seem to be any candidates for new leadership.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network