TEHRAN – The armed wing of Hamas inflicts heavy losses on two separate units of the Israeli occupation forces. 

The al-Qassam Brigades announced that they had targeted Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.

In an official statement, the resistance movement said its fighters struck an Israeli engineering unit composed of 12 soldiers who were preparing to demolish a house.

According to the Brigades, their fighters launched two anti-personnel and anti-armor shells at the unit, triggering an explosion in the house and causing casualties among the soldiers.

Following the attack, they observed Israeli helicopters arriving at the scene to evacuate the dead and wounded.

The al-Qassam Brigades also reported that their fighters engaged in close-range clashes with enemy troops and military vehicles.

In a separate operation under the “Gates of Hell” campaign, al-Qassam fighters targeted an Israeli infantry unit of seven soldiers near the Omar bin Abdulaziz Mosque, also east of Rafah, using a high-explosive device.

They reported witnessing “scattered body parts” of several occupying soldiers following the explosion.

According to an IOF spokesperson, two soldiers were killed and six others wounded during battles in the southern Gaza Strip. Four of the injured are in critical condition.

The Israeli Occupation Army Radio reported that in the first attack, gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at a building where Israeli soldiers were searching for a tunnel opening. The explosion caused the structure to collapse on them.

As a result, one soldier was killed, and two others from the 605th Engineering Battalion were wounded, one critically, the other moderately.

In a second incident, resistance fighters fired an anti-armor missile at a joint force from the Golani Reconnaissance Unit and the 605th Battalion. The soldiers, who had exited a Namer armored personnel carrier to raid a building, were attacked nearby.

Preliminary reports indicate one soldier was killed and four others injured, three critically and one moderately. Among the wounded are two officers from the Golani Unit and the 605th Battalion.

Both attacks occurred in a three-hour period in the Jenina neighborhood of Rafah, where the Golani Brigade is currently operating, Army Radio added. 

Subsequently, the Israeli military imposed a media blackout on reporting IOF casualties.

Earlier, Israeli media reported a serious security incident in Rafah, where a building collapse led to severe injuries among Israeli troops, several in critical condition. The wounded were transported to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Israeli platforms noted that the army faced significant challenges in evacuating casualties due to ongoing heavy combat. Helicopters provided suppressive fire to facilitate the evacuation.

The Hebrew-language site Hadashot Bazman published footage of wounded soldiers arriving at hospitals, while also noting that details remain under censorship. It warned that “Hamas cameras and explosive devices await army forces in Gaza.”

Israeli media described the day as particularly difficult for the IOF in Gaza, as the Rafah incidents coincided with another confrontation in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood. 

Reports from Shujaiya suggested an attempt to abduct a wounded Israeli soldier through a tunnel beneath a collapsed building.

As a result, the Israeli military reportedly activated the Hannibal Directive in both Shujaiya and Rafah, a protocol aimed at preventing the capture of soldiers, even if it involves targeting their own forces.

Reporters on the ground said the IOF had begun firing on their own positions amid fears that a capture operation was underway against the unit ambushed east of Rafah.