Seven Israeli combat engineers were killed Tuesday when an explosive device ripped through their armored vehicle during operations near Khan Younis, the army said, marking its deadliest single day in Gaza since March.
The victims—a lieutenant, three staff sergeants and three sergeants—were part of a combat-engineering battalion clearing routes in southern Gaza. Hamas’ military wing later claimed responsibility and said fighters also fired an anti-tank missile at a second vehicle that arrived to assist.
The deaths deepen public frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose narrow right-wing coalition is split over whether to end the nearly two-year war. Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Moshe Gafne, a coalition partner, asked in parliament: “Why are we still fighting there? To what end?”
Netanyahu faces competing pressures: hard-line allies Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich insist on continued combat, while centrist and international voices demand a permanent cease-fire tied to the release of roughly 20 living hostages and the bodies of 30 others still held by Hamas.
Israel’s standing briefly improved after its surprise strikes on Iran this month, but attention has swung back to Gaza since U.S. President Donald Trump brokered a separate Israel-Iran truce that took hold Tuesday. During the 12-day Iran escalation, Israeli air strikes killed more than 800 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, including at least 30 on Wednesday.
The military’s deadliest day of the conflict remains Jan. 22, 2024, when 24 soldiers—20 in a single blast—were killed in central Gaza. Tuesday’s loss underscores how improvised explosives and ambushes continue to exact a toll even as Israel asserts battlefield gains.
Netanyahu says the war will end only when Hamas frees all hostages, disarms and relinquishes control of Gaza—conditions the militant group rejects unless Israel agrees to a permanent withdrawal and cease-fire. Indirect talks have freed most captives so far; prospects for a broader deal remain uncertain as Israeli casualties mount and domestic patience thins.