ALBAWABA - Israeli news outlets said on Saturday that one soldier had died, 11 others had been seriously hurt, and four soldiers were missing after a series of Palestinian resistance operations in Gaza. The Israeli army is worried that Hamas fighters may have taken the missing soldiers, calling the event one of the worst since the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation.
Fighting broke out in the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Sabra neighborhoods, where Palestinian resistance forces set up a series of coordinated ambushes on Israeli units that were moving forward. One of the most important events was when an explosive device blew up an Israeli "Namer" armored vehicle, injuring seven soldiers, three of them seriously.
Israeli military sources confirmed that the army used the controversial "Hannibal Protocol," which lets troops do whatever it takes to stop soldiers from being captured, even if it means targeting their positions to stop kidnappings. Reports said that evacuation helicopters were shot at a lot during rescue operations, and it was thought that units from the 162nd Division and the 401st Armored Brigade were trapped in the ambush.
After the fighting, Israeli troops started to pull out of Al-Zaytoun and return to their bases. Military censorship made it illegal to talk about what happened to the four missing soldiers.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet were purposely lowering the number of living Israeli captives and making sure that many of the bodies of captured soldiers "disappear forever." He said that Al-Qassam would use the names and pictures of any prisoners killed by Israeli attacks as proof.
Israeli airstrikes have also gotten worse across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 18 Palestinians since Saturday morning. According to hospital sources, a woman and her child were killed when an apartment was hit in Al-Karama. In central Gaza, four civilians were shot dead while they were waiting for help. In the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, three bodies were found after an airstrike on a home, and another Palestinian was killed in an attack on the Shawa and Husary Tower on Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City.
People in Gaza City said that the night was full of heavy gunfire and huge explosions, especially around Al-Zaytoun. The Israeli military also blew up buildings in central and northern Khan Younis, and naval ships shelled the coast of Gaza.
