Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14
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At least five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded in a major ambush by Palestinian Resistance fighters in northern Gaza, prompted by continued Israeli airstrikes in the area.
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A screengrab shows the moment a Palestinian Resistance fighter threw an explosive device into the hatch of an Israeli Puma armored personnel carrier, in Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip, Palestine, on June 24, 2025. (Al-Qassam Brigades/Military Media)
Palestinian Resistance fighters carried out a deadly ambush targeting Israeli occupation forces in northern Gaza, late on Monday, reportedly killing at least five Israeli soldiers and wounding 14 others, several of them critically, according to Israeli media outlets.
Some of the killed soldiers were burned to death during the assault. The operation bore a striking resemblance to a previous ambush on June 24, in which seven Israeli troops were killed when Palestinian Resistance fighters targeted an armored combat engineering unit.
The attack reportedly took place in Beit Hanoun, a town in the northern end of the Gaza Strip that has come under continuous Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023.
In the earlier attack, fighters from al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, reportedly used an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) device, which they threw into the hatch of a Puma armored personnel carrier (APC). The blast obliterated the vehicle, igniting a fire that continued to rage until the APC was withdrawn from the battlefield and transported to a secure area outside the Gaza Strip.
In the aftermath of Monday’s ambush, wounded Israeli soldiers were evacuated to at least five different hospitals across occupied Palestine for treatment, reflecting the scale and severity of the casualties. The situation remains fluid, with Israeli warplanes launching continuous airstrikes in the area following the attack.
Read more: Hamas submits unified Palestinian ceasefire response to mediators
What happened in Beit Hanoun?
The Israeli military has yet to issue an official account of the events in Beit Hanoun; however, Israeli media outlets have begun to piece together details of Monday’s ambush based on field reports.
According to those reports, the attack began when a Palestinian Resistance unit detonated an improvised explosive device (IED), targeting an Israeli armored vehicle patrolling the area. In response, Israeli rescue teams were quickly dispatched to evacuate the wounded. But as additional military vehicles arrived at the scene, they too came under separate attacks.
A total of four IEDs were reportedly detonated in succession, first striking the initial armored vehicle, followed by two more blasts targeting the incoming rescue teams. Toward the end of the ambush, Palestinian Resistance fighters are said to have opened fire with live ammunition, inflicting further casualties.
Israeli military announces death of troops
Later on Tuesday, the Israeli military command announced that five Israeli troops, including two officers, were killed in what it said was a roadside bomb attack.
14 others were injured in the attack, including two who are seriously wounded.
The Israeli military claimed that at the time of the attack, the soldiers were on foot, and not in vehicles.
Read more: 3 Israeli soldiers killed by Resistance gunfire in south, north Gaza
