The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) lost 24 of its soldiers in the Gaza Strip Monday which made it the deadliest day for Israel since the Oct 7th attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz issued a joint video statement expressing condolences to the families of the dead and pledging that their deaths would not be in vain, The Times of Israel reported. (RELATED: IDF Releases Video Of Tunnel Complex Hamas Used To Hold Hostages)
“We bow our heads in memory of our fallen, and yet we do not for a moment stop striving for an irreplaceable goal – the achievement of complete victory,” Netanyahu said, the outlet reported.
Twenty-one of the 24 losses came from one incident near the city of Khan Yunis in which a Hamas fighter’s RPG struck a tank, which set off an explosion that collapsed a building with troops inside, according to an IDF initial investigation.
“Following the explosion, commanders operating in the field, along with rescue teams that arrived at the scene, have been executing a very complex operation to evacuate the casualties and locate the injured,” the IDF tweeted.
21 IDF soldiers were killed in action yesterday (Monday) as they continued to operate against Hamas centers of gravity in southern Gaza.
Based on the information available at this stage, the troops were operating in eastern Gaza near Khan Younis. The forces were operating to…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 23, 2024
The other three soldiers were killed in combat elsewhere in Khan Yunis, The Times of Israel reported. Since the start of Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, the IDF has lost 219 soldiers, the outlet reported.
In deadliest incident of Gaza combat, 21 soldiers killed as buildings collapse in blast https://t.co/CQ0kC4qZ1E
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) January 23, 2024
By contrast, the IDF estimates that they have killed 9,000 Hamas fighters, seriously wounded around 8,000 fighters and arrested some 2,300 fighters, accounting for some 60 percent of the terror group’s fighters, The Jerusalem Post reported.
American intelligence estimates that 20-30 percent of Hamas’ total forces have been killed, The Wall Street Journal reported.
American officials told the outlet that they expect the fighting to go on for months, with one official telling the outlet the U.S. has a lower estimate of how many Hamas fighters have been wounded and that many who have been wounded will likely return to the fighting.