At least nine Israeli troops, including commanders, were killed in a Hamas ambush in Gaza City, the IDF said Wednesday, as the Israel Defense Force's Golani Brigade fighters have been in the area for about a week.
The ambush was in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, which the IDF said is a "dense and complex space" where "Hamas terrorists operate out of civilian infrastructure." During the ambush, terrorists threw explosives and fired at the Israeli troops.
Among those who died include Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, who was head of the Golani Brigade's commander's team, is the highest senior IDF officer to have died in the ground battle against Hamas, according to The Times of Israel.
Separately from the nine troops who died in the Gaza Strip, another soldier, Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, was killed in an incident in northern Gaza that left three other soldiers seriously injured.
The total number of Israeli troops who have been killed in the latest campaign of ground battles in Gaza is 115. The IDF invaded Gaza after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 240 others captive. The Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, says more than 18,000 people have been killed since the war began.
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