Israel says eight soldiers dead in Gaza as armoured vehicle they were in explodes

The Israeli military announced that eight soldiers were killed in a blast in the Gaza Strip's Rafah on Saturday (Jun 15) morning. The incident occurred when an armoured vehicle, they were in, exploded, marking the deadliest incident for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the enclave since January.

In a statement, the military said that Captain Wassem Mahmud, 23, and seven other soldiers "fell during operational activity in southern Gaza". Only one soldier was identified, and the military said that other names were due to be released later on Saturday.

"Their families have been notified," the statement added.

A military press desk officer when asked about the explosion said that the blast struck near Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, where troops are engaged in fierce street battles with Palestinian militants,' reported news agency AFP.

Initial investigation by IDF reportedly revealed that the troops were all killed inside a Namer armoured combat engineering vehicle (CEV).

IDF revealed that the troops from the 401st Armoured Brigade killed some 50 gunmen after an overnight attack against Hamas in the northwest sections of Rafah's Tel Sultan neighbourhood. The soldiers were then moving in a convoy on Saturday at around 5:00 am (local time) in the morning.

Times of Israel reported that it was first unclear whether the bomb was pre-planned or if Hamas militants had come up to the car carrying an explosive device and put it on the CEV. The vehicle was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy, which was heading to buildings captured by the army. The troops were looking forward to rest following the overnight operation.

Deadliest incident for Israel since January

The losses were among the heaviest for the Israeli military since it began its ground offensive in Gaza in October 2023. Earlier this year in January, 21 soldiers were killed when rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire hit a tank near two buildings where they were carrying out an operation, the military said at the time.

The buildings exploded as troops had planted explosives in them after the structures had been identified as "terrorist infrastructure" in the area, it said.Saturday's deaths take themilitary's losses to 306since October 27.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)