Hamas’ military wing says Israeli troop carrier targeted in southern Gaza

By Nour Mahd Ali Abuaisha and Tarek Chouiref

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) - Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said Friday that its fighters targeted an Israeli armored vehicle in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

In a statement, the group said its fighters struck a “Zionist Namer armored personnel carrier with a Yassin-105 shell while a soldier was on board,” near the intersection of Street 5 in the Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area, north of Khan Younis.

The attack comes as part of ongoing Palestinian resistance to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, and has included mass killings, starvation, destruction, and displacement -- all in defiance of international calls and rulings by the International Court of Justice to halt the assault.

The Israeli army has not commented on the claim. Israel typically enforces strict censorship regarding military casualties and has not publicly confirmed the extent of its losses in Gaza.

As of Thursday evening, the Israeli military has acknowledged the deaths of 895 soldiers and injuries to 6,134 others since the start of the war, though local voices have accused the government of concealing higher casualty figures.

Israel has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.