TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / January 14, 2025
Amid growing resistance in Gaza, the Israeli army acknowledges the ongoing effectiveness of Hamas’ military operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, where casualties continue to rise.
The Israeli army has acknowledged that Hamas’ military capabilities in Beit Hanoun remain largely intact, Israeli media reported, as 16 Israeli soldiers were killed in the area in northern Gaza in recent days.
“The town of Beit Hanoun claimed the lives of five Israeli soldiers today (Monday), joining ten other soldiers killed in the town … within a week only,” said a report by the newspaper Israel Hayom, cited by the Anadolu news agency.
According to the paper, the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the military campaign began in early October 2024 has risen to 55, with 16 deaths in Beit Hanoun alone.
On Monday, Israel’s military reported that five soldiers were killed and eight others critically injured when a building in Beit Hanoun exploded.
Hamas command operational
An unnamed Israeli army officer told the newspaper that Beit Hanoun was heavily bombarded during the first incursion into the town in October 2023, resulting in the destruction of much of the area, reported Anadolu. One soldier was killed and others wounded in that initial raid.
“There is now an unimaginable number of Israeli fatalities in Beit Hanoun,” the officer said, according to the report.
The report noted that the military now concedes that Hamas’ local command network remains operational and that its commanders can still issue attack orders.
Hamas is reportedly employing guerrilla warfare tactics, with small units circumventing Israeli forces and launching attacks. Israel Hayom added that this strategy “often succeeds,” reported Anadolu.
Major attack in Rafah
Also on Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, launched a major assault on an Israeli military unit of 25 soldiers in the Shaboura camp, located in the center of Rafah, southern Gaza.
According to a statement posted on their Telegram account, the Qassam fighters ambushed the Israeli force while it was entrenched inside a building in the Al-Najili area.
The Brigades revealed that they detonated a minefield placed along two Israeli troop carriers, effectively targeting the reinforcements sent to rescue the trapped soldiers.
The attack resulted in casualties, and the clash continued into the evening with the targeted building still on fire. This action is part of a broader strengthening in resistance operations across Gaza, with the northern region seeing increasing resistance activity.
Losses ‘far higher’
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, emphasized in a statement that the losses incurred by Israeli forces in northern Gaza were far higher than officially acknowledged.
He further suggested that the growing toll on Israeli troops signalled a weakened Israeli stance, with reports indicating that the Israeli military is struggling to deal with the tactical effectiveness of the resistance.
Abu Obeida’s statement comes at a time when ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations are intensifying, highlighting the resilience of the resistance and the growing pressure on the Israeli government.
Ongoing genocide
The ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. As the death toll among besieged and starved Palestinian civilians continues to rise daily, Israel is currently facing charges of genocide against Palestinians before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 46,584 Palestinians have been killed, and 109,731 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
The toll is expected to rise further, with at least 11,000 people still unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across Gaza.
Millions displaced
The war, which Palestinians call “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” began after a military operation carried out by Hamas on Israeli territory. Israel reports that 1,139 of its soldiers and civilians were killed during the initial attack on October 7. However, Israeli media have raised concerns that a significant number of Israeli casualties were caused by ‘friendly fire’ during the assault.
Human rights organizations, both Palestinian and international, have reported that the overwhelming majority of the casualties in Gaza are women and children. The ongoing violence has also exacerbated an acute famine, with thousands of children among the dead, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian disaster.
The war has displaced nearly two million people from their homes across Gaza, with the majority of the displaced forced into the already overcrowded southern region of the Strip. The population in Gaza remains trapped in the ongoing conflict, with little access to basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care.