“TEL AVIV -- Five Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas ambush in northern Gaza, the military said Tuesday, adding to deadly incidents for Israeli troops that are fueling a debate in Israel about ending the war.
Since the end of Israel and Iran's 12-day conflict in late June, at least 17 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip -- one of the deadliest periods since the fighting began after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The deaths show that even 21 months into the war, Hamas still can carry out guerrilla warfare.
The five soldiers were killed late Monday in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, a town near the border with Israel and the site of numerous Israeli ground operations.
The soldiers were walking along a road when several improvised explosive devices exploded, an Israeli military official said. When rescuers arrived, militants opened fire. The ambush appeared planned, and showed a level of sophistication and boldness not seen in Hamas's recent attacks, they said.
The rising death toll comes as Hamas and Israel are negotiating a 60-day truce that would include the release of 10 of the remaining living Israeli hostages held by the group.
Those talks and the recent deaths of troops are spurring a debate between Israelis who believe the war should end and those among Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing base, who say the Hamas attacks show the group is undefeated.
"For our soldiers, for their families, for the hostages, for the state of Israel: this war must end," Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X the five soldiers' deaths.
Polls show a majority of Israelis want to end the war in return for the release of some 50 hostages still held by Hamas and others in Gaza, 20 of whom are still believed alive.
The attack came as Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with President Trump about a cease-fire plan to pause the conflict.
Some members of Netanyahu's coalition want the military to move civilians into a designated zone in Gaza's south while it besieges Hamas fighters left behind until they are defeated.
"What we need in Gaza is an effective siege," said Amit Halevi, a lawmaker in Netanyahu's Likud party and a member of the foreign affairs and defense parliamentary committee. "We cannot send our soldiers into the same places again and again in a way that doesn't bring us to victory."
Halevi said claims by Israeli military leadership that Hamas is largely a defeated organization are inaccurate.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza have about 35,000 fighters, nearly the same number they began the war with, said Halevi, citing intelligence. Israel's military estimates it has killed about 21,000 militants in Gaza since the war began.
Israeli military officials and security analysts argue that the new recruits are barely trained and inexperienced, and that the command structure of Hamas's brigades has broken down.
Hamas, in a statement attributed to the spokesman for its militant branch Abu Ubaida, called Monday night's attack a complex operation in a battlefield Israel "assumed to be secure after leaving no stone unturned."
The soldiers killed in the incident were mostly from an ultraorthodox unit that had just re-entered Gaza.
Many in Israel argue that Israeli soldiers are exhausted from 21 months of fighting, and that is also leading to deadly errors.
Late in June, the same day Israel and Iran agreed to a cease-fire after a 12-day war in which no Israeli troops were killed, seven Israeli soldiers were killed inside an armored vehicle.
Video released by Hamas showed a militant walking right up to the armored vehicle and tossing a bomb into the open hatch before running away.
Family members of the soldiers killed in the armored vehicle said they had complained of being tired after nearly two years of war.
The Israeli military's chief, Eyal Zamir, told the government last week that he preferred moving toward a hostage deal, as further operations would threaten the lives of hostages while the benefit of further weakening Hamas was unclear, Israeli officials said.
"We are very close to a decision-making crossroads," Zamir told troops during a visit to Gaza on Monday.
In a separate development, Israel said it targeted a senior Hamas militant with a rare airstrike in northern Lebanon that killed three people and wounded 13 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
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At Least 51 Palestinians Were Killed in Israeli Attacks
At least 51 people were killed in Israeli strikes, health officials in the Palestinian territory said on Tuesday.
Health officials at Nasser Hospital, where the victims were taken, said one attack targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing four. A separate strike in Khan Younis killed four people, including a mother, father and their two children, officials said.
"He sleeps in the tent with his two children, Awda and Misk," said Nisma al-Baiouk, the sister of one man killed. "My nephew Awda has no face, his face is gone."
Nasser Hospital records showed a total of 41 people were killed on Tuesday.
In central Gaza, Israeli strikes killed another 10 people and wounded 72, according to Al Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel's military had no comment on the strikes, but it blames Hamas for harm to civilians because the militants operate in populated areas.” [1]
1. Soldiers' Deaths Fuel Debate Over Gaza War --- Rising Israeli toll signals Hamas isn't defeated, spurs talk of ending conflict. Lieber, Dov. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 09 July 2025: A7.
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