Palestinian resistance groups are escalating their campaign with roadside bombs, RPGs, and close-quarters ambushes, as Israel prepares a new large-scale assault on southern Gaza.
The Al-Quds Brigades and the Al-Qassam Brigades announced a series of coordinated ambushes and attacks on Israeli occupation forces across the Gaza Strip, as Israel intensifies its ground operations under the banner of ‘Gideon’s Chariots’.
On Monday, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, reported that its fighters detonated a field of pre-planted barrel bombs targeting an Israeli military convoy that had advanced into the Abu Haddaf neighborhood in the Al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis.
The brigades said they observed helicopters landing at the site to evacuate killed and wounded soldiers.
The Israeli military confirmed the death of a sergeant from the 601st Engineering Battalion during confrontations in the northern Gaza Strip.
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Separately, the Harsha settlement, in the occupied West Bank, announced the death of soldier Yossi Yehuda, also a member of the engineering unit, in Gaza, though no date was provided.
Earlier, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said its fighters carried out a complex ambush in the Al-Atatra area, west of Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza.
According to their statement, resistance fighters targeted three Israeli vehicles with two Shawaz explosive devices and a tandem missile, before engaging an Israeli force in direct clashes.
Helicopters were observed landing to evacuate casualties on Friday following the ambush.
Additional Israeli casualties were reported from earlier operations.
In Rafah’s Al-Janina neighborhood, an RPG strike on a building killed one Israeli soldier and wounded two others.
In the same area, a Golani unit soldier was killed when an explosive device detonated beneath a tank from the 188th Brigade, injuring the entire crew.
In a separate incident near Nahal Oz, a Reserve Sergeant First Class was reportedly killed in an operational traffic accident involving a military truck during an engineering mission.
The Israeli occupation army has officially acknowledged the death of a soldier under the “Permitted for Publication” clause, bringing the number of soldiers killed since October 7, 2023, to 857.
However, observers believe the real toll may be significantly higher, as critics accuse the Israeli military of concealing the full extent of its battlefield losses.
As resistance operations intensify, the Israeli military announced plans for an “unprecedented” offensive targeting the areas of Khan Yunis, Bani Suhaila, and Abasan, and ordered residents to evacuate to the Mawasi area.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee labeled Khan Yunis Governorate a “dangerous combat zone.”
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