The Israeli military has identified the nine soldiers killed in a Hamas ambush of gunfire and grenade blasts on Tuesday evening – including two commanders – as they moved through a courtyard complex in Shejaiya, a neighborhood in Gaza City considered a major terrorist stronghold.
The sneak attack appeared to be the deadliest single skirmish the Israel Defense Forces has experienced since pushing into the Gaza Strip in late October, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel also suffered a tenth loss in separate fighting within northern Gaza on Tuesday.
Those killed in the Shejaiya assault were identified as Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, leader of the Golani Brigade’s commander’s team, from Sde Ya’akov; Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Almog; and Maj. Roei Meldasi, 23, a company commander in the 13th Battalion, from Afula.
Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, 23, from Ra’anana; Cpt. Liel Hayo, 22, from Shoham; Sgt. Achia Daskal, 19, from Haifa; Sgt. Eran Aloni, 19, from Ofakim; Maj. Ben Shelly, 26, from Kidron; and Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, 20, of Unit 669, from Givatayim was also killed.
According to the Times, Ben Basat is the highest-ranking IDF officer to have been killed by Hamas since the start of the military’s ground offensive in Gaza.
He was initially in the process of retiring from the military but decided against stepping down after Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, the Times reported.
Grinberg is the eighth IDF lieutenant colonel killed since the start of the war.
Hamas also killed Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 614th Battalion, in separate fighting in northern Gaza on Tuesday, the Times reported. The IDF reported another three soldiers suffered serious injuries.
The losses bring the IDF’s death toll in the war to 115.
The attack in Shejaiya came as the Golani Brigade and other armor and engineering forces were conducting search operations, according to the Times.
An initial investigation revealed four soldiers entered three buildings surrounding a courtyard they believed were abandoned, and found an entrance to Gaza’s complex underground tunnel network that’s used by Hamas operatives to hide and move weapons, the newspaper reported.
As the soldiers walked into one of the buildings, Hamas militants opened fire, threw grenades, and detonated another explosive device.
All four soldiers were hit by the explosions inside the building, the outlet reported.
A second group of soldiers tried to reach their fallen comrades, and emergency procedures were launched when contact with an officer from the initial squad was lost, the initial investigation showed.
Israeli forces then set up a perimeter to provide cover for the rescue team, as Hamas continued its rain of bullets and grenades, the Times reported.
The rescue squad reached the initial group of soldiers and discovered them dead, as other soldiers were killed in the intense fighting.
At one point in the battle, Israeli soldiers fired a missile into one of the other buildings where Hamas fighters were stationed, triggering other explosives kept inside and prompting the entire structure to blow up, according to the Times.
The IDF is now said to believe the terror group’s command and control in Shejaiya has been significantly disrupted, as smaller squads of militants move about the area in a less organized fashion.
However, the IDF did not indicate how many of the terrorists were killed in the battle and Hamas had not made any statements about the fighting as of Wednesday morning.
לוחמי צוות הקרב של חטיבת גולני ומפקדיו נלחמים מזה כשבוע בעומק מרחב שג׳עייה שבעיר עזה. בימים האחרונים נמצאת החטיבה בהתקפה על תשתיות טרור בקסבה של שג׳עייה. ההתקפה הינה שלב מתקדם במאמץ לטיהור השכונה ממחבלי ארגון הטרור חמאס ושלילת יכולותיו של הארגון>> pic.twitter.com/m9BLlgj6i4
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 13, 2023
The IDF released video on Wednesday showing some of the intense fighting that has played out in Shejaiya in recent days.
Israeli forces have been locked in close-quarters skirmishes around northern Gaza with Hamas militants as the ongoing war enters a third month.
