The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, announced on Friday that several Israeli soldiers were killed and wounded after being targeted with a missile and an anti-personnel shell in a house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a brief statement, Al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters successfully struck an Israeli unit that had taken refuge in a home east of the Al-Tanour neighbourhood with a TBG anti-fortification missile and an anti-personnel shell, resulting in soldiers’ casualties.
The group added that its fighters had seen helicopters landing to evacuate the wounded and the dead.
Earlier, the Brigades noted that its fighters were engaged in intense clashes with Israeli forces advancing in Rafah’s eastern part.
The Middle East Monitor report says there was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on Al-Qassam’s statement.
Israel initiated a military offensive in Rafah on May 6, taking control of the Rafah Crossing, despite international warnings about the potential humanitarian catastrophe this would cause.
The ongoing military offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah, a city that previously had a population of around 1.5 million, including approximately 1.4 million internally displaced individuals.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on 7 October last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 95,500 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
