Explosive kills 7 Israeli soldiers in Gaza inside an armored vehicle,
military says
[June 25, 2025]
By JULIA FRANKEL
JERUSALEM (AP) — Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza
Strip on Tuesday when a Palestinian militant affixed a bomb to their
armored vehicle.
It was one of the deadliest incidents for the army in Gaza in months and
quickly drew the nation’s attention back to the grinding war against
Hamas, after nearly two weeks of fighting with archenemy Iran ended with
a ceasefire Tuesday.
Israel has been operating in Gaza since the Hamas militant group’s Oct.
7, 2023, attack on Israel. U.S.-led ceasefire efforts have repeatedly
stalled.
Unsuccessful rescue attempt
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the army’s chief spokesman, said the soldiers
were attacked 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.
Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began with the
Oct. 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
took 251 others hostage. Some 50 hostages remain in captivity, at least
20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Deadliest round of fighting
The Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza and killed over 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 doesn’t distinguish between civilians and
combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children.
[to top of second column]
|
Displaced Palestinians live in a tent camp in Gaza City, Monday,
June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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 over
20,000 Hamas militants have been killed, though it has provided no
evidence to support that claim. Hamas has not commented on its
casualties.
Palestinian woman killed in Jerusalem
Meanwhile, a local Palestinian official in the occupied West Bank
said Israeli forces shot and killed a 66-year-old Palestinian woman
during a raid in east Jerusalem.
Israeli police said they were investigating the incident, saying a
woman had arrived at a military checkpoint with “serious penetrating
injuries” and been pronounced dead.
Marouf Al-Refai, the Palestinian official, said Israeli forces
stormed the Shuafat refugee camp overnight, killing Zahia Obeidi
with a shot to the head around 10 p.m. and seizing her body
thereafter.
Israeli forces arrested her husband and sons later that night, Refai
said. Their whereabouts were not immediately known, and police had
no further details.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy
sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast
war.
It considers the area to be part of its capital – a move that is not
internationally recognized. Palestinians want an independent state
with east Jerusalem as its capital.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
