Illustrative image (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on May 16 that five soldiers were killed and at least seven others were wounded while operating in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip a day earlier.
The soldiers were all serving in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion. The IDF said that a friendly-fire incident was behind their death.
According to an initial military probe, a tank operating alongside the paratroopers in Jabaliya fired two shells at a building where they were gathered in the evening.
The tank forces had arrived at the area in the morning hours, and several hours later, the paratroopers reached the area and established a post in the building. Later in the evening, another group of paratroopers reached the area and notified two of the tanks there that they were entering the building.
The tank forces had later identified a gun barrel from one of the windows of the building and believed it was enemy forces, leading them to fire two shells.
The IDF’s claims are highly questioned as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Gaza-ruling Hamas Movement, reported on May 15 exactly 12 Israeli casualties after a “complex” attack by its fighters in Jabalia’s Block 4 area.
The group said its fighters targeted a tank, a bulldozer and a house occupied by Israel troops using rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices during the attack. Video footage showing a part of the attack was also released.
Other videos released by the group and the allied al-Quds Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, on May 15 and 16 showed more Israeli losses in Jabaliya, the al-Zaitoun neighborhood in nearby Gaza City and the area of Rafah in the southern part of the Strip.
Also on May 15, an Israeli Defense Ministry contractor who was wounded in a mortar attack in southern Gaza two days earlier succumbed to his wounds. In addition to the slain contractor, the mortar attack left eight soldiers wounded, including two seriously and another contractor lightly hurt.
The latest casualties brought the toll of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza to 278. More than 1,500 others have been wounded in the Strip so far, including dozens in the last few days.
On the Palestinian side, the Israeli war has so far claimed the lives of 35,233 people and left more than 79,141 others wounded, according to the latest update by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Most of the victims were women and children.
Despite killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroying much of Gaza, Israel has not yet achieved any of the goals it set for the war.
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