By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
The Israeli Army (IDF) has admitted that ten of its army officers were killed in a deadly ambush in the northern Gaza Strip by Hamas militia on Tuesday.
The deceased soldiers include the 44 year old Col. Ben Basat (Head of the Golani Brigade’s commander team) who is the most senior commander who has been killed so far.
Others are; Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, Maj. Roei Meldasi, a company commander in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion and Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, a company commander in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion.
Others are; Sgt. Achia Daskal, from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, Cpt. Liel Hayo, a platoon commander in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, Maj. Ben Shelly, a squad commander in the israeli Air Force’s Unit 669, Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, of the israeli Air Force’s Unit 669 and Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 614th Battalion.
The death toll was updated on Wednesday from an earlier statement which said at least eight soldiers had been killed, among them Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, head of the Golani Brigade’s commander’s team.
Ben Basat is the most senior officer to die in Gaza since Israel’s ground offensive began in the enclave. He was set to retire from the army but decided to stay on when war broke out on October 7, Times of Israel reported.
The second officer pronounced dead on Wednesday was named as Sgt. Eran Aloni of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion.
The soldiers were reportedly ambushed in Shujaiya, a suburb of Gaza City. The ambush included gunfire and explosions.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, had said Tuesday evening that they targeted Israeli forces in Shujaiya and caused casualties, but it was not clear if they were referring to the same incident.
The ambush marked the deadliest day for the Israeli military since their ground invasion of Gaza began, according to Wednesday’s statement.
HAMAS STATEMENT
Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas) announces:
After returning from the frontlines in the Shujaiya neighborhood, our fighters report targeting 7 military vehicles, including the “Commander” tank and an APC carrying 3 soldiers. We engaged the rescue teams who tried to rescue the crew of the “Merkava-3 Baz” tank, killing several of them. Additionally, we targeted a Zionist sniper with RPG and fiercely clashed with IOF infantry forces in several areas at close range, confirming eliminating 11 Zionist soldiers, and we seized the equipment from some of the soldiers and inflicted injuries on others.
