Palestinian militants ambushed Israeli troops in a dense Gaza City neighborhood, killing at least nine of them, the Israeli military said Wednesday, as Hamas fighters put up stiff resistance in areas that Israel has isolated and pounded with airstrikes for more than two months.
The air and ground war has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and pushed nearly 85% of Gaza’s population from their homes, sparking international outrage. The United States has repeatedly called on Israel to take greater measures to spare civilians, even as it has blocked international calls for a cease-fire and rushed military aid to its close ally.
More than six weeks after Israeli soldiers invaded Gaza’s north in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, ground troops are still locked in heavy combat with Palestinian fighters in and around Gaza City. Clashes raged overnight and into Wednesday in multiple areas, with especially heavy fighting in Shijaiyah, a dense neighborhood that was the scene of a major battle during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.
“It’s terrifying. We couldn’t sleep,” Mustafa Abu Taha, a Palestinian agricultural worker who lives in the neighborhood, said by phone. “The situation is getting worse, and we don’t have a safe place to go.”
Israeli troops who were searching a cluster of buildings in Shijaiyah on Tuesday lost communication with four soldiers who had come under fire, the military said. When the other soldiers launched a rescue operation, they were ambushed with heavy gunfire and explosives.
Among the nine killed were Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, the most senior officer to have been killed in the ground operation, and Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, a battalion commander.
Heavy rainfall overnight swamped tent camps in Gaza’s south, where Israel has told people to seek refuge, even as that region has also come under repeated aerial bombardment.
In the central city of Deir al Balah, the storm brought cold winds and flooded a shelter area behind a hospital, sending torrents of water coursing between the tents. “The situation is catastrophic,” said Ibrahim Arafat, a father of 13 who fled Shijaiyah.
Because of the fighting and Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the healthcare system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of the territory, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people.
There has been little media coverage or public discussion of the plight of civilians in Gaza, even as international outrage has continued to mount. AP
