Fourteen Israeli soldiers killed amid close quarter combat in southern Gaza, military says

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press on with the offensive despite admitting heavy losses

Fourteen Israeli soldiers have been killed amid intense fighting in the Gaza strip over the past two days, the country’s military said.

The Israeli military suffered the losses in central and southern Gaza as its forces battled Hamas militants in “close-quarters combat” in Khan Younis near the territory’s border with Egypt.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted a “very difficult” day of fighting but vowed to press on with the offensive despite calls for a pause.

“The war is exacting a very heavy cost from us,” he said in a statement. “However, we have no choice but to continue to fight.”

“Let it be clear: This will be a long war. We will fight until the end – until the hostages are returned, Hamas is eliminated and we restore security in both the north and the south,” Mr Netanyahu added.

An Israeli solider stands next to a destroyed building in Khan Younis, southern Gaza (via REUTERS)

Israel says Hamas seized around 240 hostages when militants killed 1,200 people in a rampage around southern Israel on 7 October.

Up to 60 hostages were missing due to Israeli air strikes, Hamas said last month. There has been no confirmation of that number but Israel believes that 20 or more of some 130 hostages still held in Gaza are dead.

Meanwhile, the Gazan ministry of health said more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since 7 October.

UK foreign secretary Lord Cameron admitted last week that “too many civilians” had been killed in Gaza and called for a “sustainable ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

Penning a joint article with Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Lord Cameron said he supported a ceasefire only if it was sustainable in the long term.

The Gazan ministry of health claimed more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its offensive into the strip (EPA)

“Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable,” he said.

The UK, Germany and US abstained over a United Nations resolution last week, backed by 153 countries, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Officially, the US and UK support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in the West Bank supports the solution.

Hamas, which runs Gaza, does not support a two-state solution and has vowed to eradicate Israel and Jewish people around the world.

It boycotted the peace process in the 1990s that eventually saw the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli military stand in the foreground of destroyed Palestinian infrastructure in southern Gaza (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

This month, the UK’s Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely rejected the idea of Palestinians having their own state in the Middle East.

More than 300 soldiers were killed during the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October and more than 150 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its ground offensive.

By comparison, 67 Israeli soldiers were killed during a 50-day war in Gaza in 2014, when Israel carried out a ground invasion around the margins of the enclave.