The war: 15 Israeli soldiers died fighting in Gaza against the Hamas resistance

Fifteen Israeli soldiers died in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekendThe Israeli military reported Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of fighting since Israel’s ground offensive began in late October, an indication that Hamas continues to fight despite weeks of brutal warfare.

The growing death toll among Israeli troops is likely to be a major factor in Israeli public support for the war, triggered by a Hamas-led militant attack on cities in southern Israel on October 7. in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 captured. The war has devastated parts of the Gaza Strip, killing an estimated 20,400 Palestinians and displacing nearly 85 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza, a territory controlled by Hamas, reported 166 deaths in the last 24 hours in the coastal enclave.

Israelis strongly support the country’s stated goals destroy Gaza’s military and governance capacity and free 129 hostagesit’s what’s left. That support has largely been maintained despite growing international pressure against the Israeli offensive, mounting casualties and the unprecedented suffering of Palestinians.

But the growing number of dead soldiers – 153 since the start of the ground offensive – could undermine that support. Soldier deaths are a sensitive issue in Israel, a country where military service is mandatory for most Jews.

The names of fallen soldiers are announced at the top of the news, and in a small town of about 9 million people, virtually every family has a family member, friend or co-worker who has lost a relative in the war.

As Christmas night fell, columns of smoke rose in Gaza while silence reigned in Bethlehem, in the West Bank. where the celebrations were cancelled.

Hamas demands a price

The 15 Israeli soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday were killed in battles in central and southern Gaza, an indication of how Hamas is putting up stiff resistance to advancing Israeli troops. although Israel claims to have dealt a heavy blow to the armed group.

According to Israeli Army Radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile. The others died in separate sporadic fighting.

Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by fire from the Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah, which has been engaged in low-level fighting with Israel since the start of the war with Hamas, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

“The war costs us a lot, But we have no choice but to continue fighting.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this during a government meeting on Sunday.

“We continue with all our strength, until the end, until we win, until we reach our goals.”

Although the Israelis supported the war effort, There is widespread discontent with Netanyahu’s governmentwhich many criticize for failing to protect civilians on October 7 and for promoting policies that have allowed Hamas to strengthen itself for years.

Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday night in Tel Aviv under a downpour and chanted “Bibi, Bibi, we don’t want you anymore,” using Netanyahu’s nickname.

Netanyahu has avoided taking responsibility for the military and political failures that led to October 7, calling himself rHe would ask tough questions once the fighting was over.

Efforts to reach another truce continued. On Sunday, the leader of Islamic Jihjad, another group that participated in the attack on Israel, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, arrived in Cairo for talks. This group claims to be willing to release hostages only after a ceasefire. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo a few days ago.

Egypt and Qatar They mediated the negotiations.

Expand the offensive

The Israeli offensive is already one of the most devastating in recent history. More than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinians killed were women and childrenaccording to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which makes no distinction between civilians and combatants.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday morning that a 13-year-old boy was killed by an Israeli drone while inside the Al-Amal hospital building in Khan Younis, where Israel says Hamas leaders are hiding. No further details were provided.

An overnight Israeli attack hit a house in a refugee camp west of the city of Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border. At least two men are deadaccording to Associated Press journalists at the hospital where their bodies were taken.

At least two people were killed and six injured when a missile hit a building in Buriej refugee camp in central Gaza.

Palestinians reported heavy Israeli shelling and shooting Sunday morning in the town of Jabaliya, an area north of Gaza City that Israel had claimed was under its control. Hamas’ military branch told its fighters They had fired live ammunition at Israeli troops in the city and the Jabaliya refugee camp.

“There is shelling and intense fighting at night,” said Assad Radwan, a Palestinian fisherman from Jabaliya. “The sounds of explosions and gunshots never stopped.”

Israel received harsh international criticism by the growing number of civilian deaths, widespread damage and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israel blames Hamas for the high number of civilian casualties, saying the militants attack and then hide among civilians. Israel has carried out thousands of airstrikes since October 7 and generally avoids commenting on specific attacks.

There are also those who accuse the Israeli forces of mistreat Palestinian men and adolescents in homes, shelters, hospitals and other places during the offensive. Israel denies the charges and notes that those with no links to violent groups are quickly released.

Speaking to the AP from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza City said Israeli forces arrested him after tanks and bulldozers partially destroyed his home. He added that the troops handcuffed and blindfolded the men.

“We didn’t sleep, they didn’t give us food or water”he said between sobs.

Another freed Palestinian, Mohammed Salem, from Shijaiyah, a neighborhood in Gaza City, said he was beaten by Israeli forces.

“They humiliated us”, he expressed. “A female soldier hit a 72-year-old man.”

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants, including around 2,000 in the past three weeks since it expanded its offensive into southern Gaza, but has provided no evidence. It says it is dismantling Hamas’ vast network of underground passages and killing the group’s commanders, an operation that government insiders say could take months.

International pressure

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council passed a watered-down resolution calling for speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to hungry and desperate civilians in Gaza and the release of all hostages, but not a ceasefire.

After the United Nations resolution, It was initially unclear how and when the distribution of aid would be accelerated.. The trucks enter from two crossings, Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and Kerem Shalom, on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, Palestinian Authority spokesman for border crossings, said 93 trucks loaded with aid entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Saturday.

World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated UN calls for a humanitarian truce, adding on social media that “the destruction of the health system in Gaza is a tragedy.”

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, on Saturday reiterated calls from other senior United Nations officials for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza that would allow the delivery of aid and the release of hostages.

“In order for help to reach those in need, the hostages must be releasedfurther displacement must be avoided and above all the devastating loss of life must be stopped and there must be a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, it is the only way forward,” wrote X.

Israel’s allies in Europe have also doubled down on their calls for the fighting to end. But the United States, Israel’s main ally, he appeared to maintain his steadfast support for Israel despite stepping up his calls for greater protection for civilians in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden spoke to Netanyahu on Saturday, a day after the US protected Israel from a more aggressive UN resolution. Biden said he had not called for a ceasefire, while Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister “made clear that Israel will continue the war until all of its objectives are achieved.”