Hamas Reports Heavy Israeli Losses In Gaza, Says It Lost Contact With Hostages

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The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, announced on December 23 that its fighters had carried out a series of attacks against the Israeli Defense Forces in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

In the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Hamas fighters used two unexploded Israeli aerial bombs, each weighing a ton, to blow up a convoy of the IDF made up of five main battle tanks. Several Israeli troops were allegedly killed or wounded.

A fighter of Hamas also gunned down four Israeli troops from point blank during a battle in Jabalia’s al-Qasasib neighborhood.

Meanwhile in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, two vehicles of the IDF were targeted with rocket-propelled grenades and a soldier was shot by Hamas fighters.

In the central Gaza town of Juhor al-Dik, Hamas fighters ambushed a convoy of four Israeli military jeeps using several explosive devices. A tank that advanced towards the ambush area was also hit with rocket-propelled grenades. Later, IDF reinforcements were shelled with mortars and rockets. Many Israeli troops were allegedly killed in the ambush.

The fighters also targeted an infantry force that advanced in the town with an explosive device and blew up a tunnel shaft after it was approached by an Israeli special operations unit, allegedly killing or wounding many. Reinforcements dispatched by the IDF to the tunnel shaft were also targeted with mortars.

In the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Hamas fighters lured five troops from the IDF’s elite Yahalom engineering unit to a booby-trapped tunnel shaft then blew it up.

The fighters also targeted an armored personnel carrier and two soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades during another battle in the city.

At least 139 Israeli troops have been killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza. More than 600 others have been reportedly wounded.

Separately, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades announced that it has lost contact with a unit that was guarding five Israeli captives, including three elderly men who were previously identified as Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger and Amiram Cooper. The group said that the hostages and their guards were most likely killed in an Israeli strike.

Some 132 hostages remain in Gaza out of the 240 taken during the October 7 surprise attack, which was planned and led by Hamas.

Hamas’ recent attacks and the growing risks to the remaining hostages in Gaza forced Israel to resume talks with the group earlier this month. However, the two sides are yet to reach an agreement. While the Israeli officials are offering a temporary ceasefire, Hamas officials insist that the war on the Strip should end and all Palestinians prisoners are released.

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