Israel said 21 soldiers died when two buildings exploded and collapsed; three more died fighting in southern Gaza. Israel says it’s investigating the incident, which Hamas claims responsibility for.
Twenty-one Israeli reserve soldiers died in a single incident Monday in which two buildings exploded and collapsed on soldiers operating inside after Hamas fired at a nearby tank, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
Another three Israeli soldiers were killed Monday while fighting in southern Gaza, the military said, bringing the day’s death toll to 24, the highest number of deaths in a single day for Israel during its war with Hamas.
In total, 221 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza in October, according to the military.
« We share in the sorrow of their families for the heavy loss and know that the pain is unbearable, » said Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff. « On this day, we feel the great and painful cost of war, but that which we are fighting is necessary and justified. »Deadly building collapse likely caused by Israeli explosives
The deadly incident Monday afternoon occurred near the Gaza-Israel border, where a group of Israeli reservists was « removing structures and terrorist infrastructure, » military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement Tuesday.
As a group of soldiers operated inside and around a pair of buildings that had been laid with explosives, militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a nearby tank, Hagari said.
