Israel suffers ‘deadliest blow’ as Hamas kills 9 soldiers

Reuters news agency, citing Israeli army, is reporting that nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes hit a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 50 Palestinians and a Hamas commander, and medics struggled to treat the casualties in the enclave where food, fuel and basic supplies are running scarce.

The Israeli military said 11 soldiers were also killed in fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, the biggest one-day loss for the armed forces since Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 300 soldiers and some 1,100 civilians.

Several Hamas-associated X accounts were claiming that Israeli Defence Forces suffered a heavy blow but IDF did not acknowledge or respond to the media queries now Reuters reported 9 IDF soldiers killed when an anti-tank missile hit a vehicle. 

The airstrikes took place amidst international calls for an end to the violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The health ministry had reported 8,525 deaths, including 3,542 children and 2,187 women, just hours before the attack.

Melanie Ward, the chief executive of the Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) non-profit group, said the “attack [on Jabalia refugee camp] marks a new low and should serve as a wake-up call to world leaders and politicians everywhere”.

“Their meek requests for compliance with international law are being ignored entirely; Israel has instead increased the ferocity of its indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks,” Ward said in a statement.

She called on the international community to broker a ceasefire in Gaza that “will bring this bloodshed to an end”.

The group said it was “deeply concerned” for Palestinians across Gaza, and, in particular, the 400,000 people still in northern areas of the Strip. “The threat to their lives grows with each passing hour,” Ward said.

Latest casualty figures

Palestinian health officials in the West Bank say that two people have been killed and several wounded by Israeli forces during an operation in Jenin. According to local reports, one of fatalities was Wiyam al-Harouri, a freed security prisoner.

Palestinian media outlets reported on Wednesday morning that Israeli security forces are operating in the West Bank city of Jenin, where they are attempting to arrest senior members of the Fatah organization.

The IDF has surrounded the home of Fatah’s secretary general in Jenin, Ata Abu Ramila, and that of Jamaal Haweel, another key Fatah member in the city. On Monday, Fatah declared a ‘day of rage’ across the West Bank and called on Palestinians to hold protest rallies.

Saudi Arabia condemned in the strongest possible terms the inhumane targeting by the Israeli occupation forces of the Jabalia refugee camp, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

“This is due to the international community's failure to exert pressure on the occupation forces of Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire," it added.