Israel Suffers Losses in Northern Gaza After a Year of Fighting and Siege

The Israeli army announced the death of a soldier and the serious injury of another in battles with Palestinian factions in northern Gaza, a day after Tel Aviv was struck by rockets.

9th October 2024

3 minutes read

Israel Suffers Losses in Northern Gaza After a Year of Fighting and Siege

On Tuesday, the Israeli army announced that a soldier had been killed and another seriously injured in battles with Palestinian resistance factions in northern Gaza, revealing Hamas‘s ability to inflict casualties on Israeli soldiers after a year of war, despite the tight siege and ongoing bombardment. In a statement, it was mentioned that “Sergeant Noam Israel Abdo, 20 years old, from the 17th battalion of the B’Tselem brigade, was killed in a battle in northern Gaza yesterday, Monday.” It added that another soldier was seriously injured in the clashes in the northern strip.

On Monday, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced in a series of statements that they had carried out military operations against Israeli army forces infiltrating the Jabalia camp and other areas in northern Gaza. Al-Qassam reported that its fighters had observed “Israeli helicopters landing to evacuate the dead and injured from the army.”

On Sunday, the Israeli army announced the beginning of a military operation in the town and camp of Jabalia (north) under the pretext of “preventing Hamas from regaining its strength in the area,” just hours after launching a fierce assault on the eastern and western areas of the northern strip, including Jabalia, the most intense since last May.

Indicating that Hamas retains military capabilities despite a year of war, the al-Qassam Brigades launched a rocket attack on Tel Aviv, some of which fell in open areas while others were intercepted in mid-air. Numerous military reports have confirmed that al-Qassam Brigades managed to restore their strength in several areas, including the northern strip, while the Israeli army was relocating residents from towns like Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia.

The Israeli army also indicated on its website that another soldier was critically injured in a battle in southern Lebanon, without further details. On Monday, the Israeli army announced the death of two soldiers in battles in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army stated that with this, the number of military casualties (officers and soldiers) since the beginning of the war (in Gaza and Lebanon) has risen to 730.

Since September 23, Israel has been waging war on Lebanon through unprecedentedly intense and bloody airstrikes targeting even the capital, Beirut, in addition to a ground incursion that began in the south, disregarding international warnings and UN resolutions.

According to official figures, Israel has killed 2083 people and injured 9869 since the start of the reciprocal bombardment with Hezbollah on October 8, 2023, including 1251 killed and 3618 injured, a significant number of whom are children and women, and more than 1.2 million displaced persons since September 23 until Monday afternoon.

Hezbollah responds daily by launching rockets, drones, and artillery shells targeting military sites and settlements across Israel. While Tel Aviv announces some of its human and material losses, Israeli military censorship imposes strict secrecy on most casualties, according to observers.

For decades, Israel has occupied Arab lands in Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, and refuses to allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 war borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.