File photo: Israeli soldiers near a tank in Khan Younis during Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. AP
An army investigation, cited in Israeli media, said at least 15 fighters emerged from a tunnel shaft about 40–50 metres from the “Magen Oz” post, where Israeli troops had been stationed for weeks. Divided into three squads, they launched the attack shortly after 9 am. The breach itself lasted ten minutes, but firefights continued for more than three hours.
The Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said: “a number of fighters stormed the houses and finished off a number of occupation soldiers inside from point-blank range with light weapons and hand grenades.”
It said its unit targeted Merkava 4 tanks with explosives and “Yassin 105” shells, fatally shot a tank commander, and detonated explosives against rescue forces, with the assault lasting for hours before helicopters arrived to evacuate casualties, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Hamas statement on Telegram.
The fighters carried rifles, RPGs, grenades, explosives and a stretcher, which the Israeli army said was intended to abduct a soldier. One Israeli soldier was seriously wounded and three others lightly injured.
Unedited footage cited by Al Jazeera showed around eight fighters walking calmly toward a tunnel with their weapons during the withdrawal, then returning to the opening.
Israel subsequently released edited footage lasting less than a minute, portraying the army in a more favourable light, while the battle itself continued for hours.
Israeli commentators described the incident as a “dramatic failure.”
A correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Maariv described the raid as “extremely serious” and said it exposed “the weakness of the Shin Bet and the Military Intelligence in the area.” He warned that the scale of the raid should alarm commanders preparing an assault on Gaza City.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister threatened to destroy Gaza City, warning that the “gates of hell” would open on the largest population centre in the strip, which could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — both obliterated earlier in the war.
The Israeli defence ministry has since authorised the call-up of about 60,000 reservists to help occupy Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, home to nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, already reeling under 22 months of siege and bombardment.
The move has provoked discontent among Israeli reservists, exhausted by the mass killing of Palestinians and sceptical of any strategic objective.
Army Radio said Israeli forces exchanged fire with the Hamas unit, claiming they killed between eight and ten fighters before the rest withdrew. It described the raid as “unprecedented and different” and said the fighters appeared to be attempting a kidnapping.
The army denied that any troops were killed and insisted the post was not breached.
The assault contradicted Israel’s assertions that Hamas had been dismantled in Khan Younis, a city now razed by Israel and emptied of its residents in violation of international law. In February, then defence minister Yoav Galant had declared that “Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade has been defeated.”
Last month, Maj Gen (res) Avraham Azulai, serving with the Southern Command’s engineering unit, was killed in another Hamas raid in Khan Younis after fighters fired an RPG and tried to abduct him as he operated a bulldozer demolishing Palestinian homes.
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