Israeli reserve officers: stuck in the Gaza quagmire

Reserve officers in the Israeli army warned that the Israeli army is stuck in the "Gaza quagmire," endangering its forces. They considered that continuing this approach "plays against the army," demanding a "swift military resolution" or "the termination of their mission."

This came, according to what the Israeli Walla news website reported on Wednesday evening, following the killing of seven soldiers in a Palestinian resistance operation in Khan Yunis on Tuesday. Reserve officers noted that the incident revealed the Israeli army's long-standing stumbling block in Gaza.

According to the report, these officers expected the army's General Staff to "carry out a broad operation against Hamas, including rapid control of areas and the cleansing of them" of resistance elements with "great force."

The report indicated that the end of this operation, according to the officers' perception, should lead to a decisive confrontation with Hamas, paving the way either for negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal, or for a political step leading to the release of the prisoners following military pressure.

However, on the ground, according to the report, the pace of combat operations has slowed, and some of the forces operating in Gaza have been redeployed to other fronts. The report noted that continuing this approach "plays against the army" and leads to losses among its forces.

In connection with the investigation into the Khan Yunis ambush: A resistance fighter climbed onto an armored vehicle and threw an explosive device, killing 7 soldiers.

The report quoted reserve officers as telling senior commanders in the General Staff who had conducted field tours of the area: "Reserve brigades were called up for four or five tours, and we told them: 'Either you decide, or you release us.' The slow pace of fighting in Gaza is putting soldiers at risk."

According to the report's assessments, Israel's political leadership will soon be forced to make a decision: either launch a large-scale ground incursion, despite the heavy price, to resolve the confrontation with Hamas, or pursue a prisoner release deal.

Yesterday evening, Wednesday, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that the Israeli government is deceiving its public and throwing its soldiers into the "Gaza quagmire" to serve illusory political goals.

Abu Obeida said, "The enemy government is deceiving its people and ignoring the fact that it is throwing its soldiers into the Gaza quagmire for illusory political purposes." He emphasized that "the funerals and corpses of enemy soldiers will become a regular occurrence as long as the occupation's aggression and criminal war against our people continues."

This comes after seven Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush carried out by the Qassam Brigades on Tuesday in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The army acknowledged the killing, saying the soldiers belonged to the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, and acknowledged that two other soldiers were injured, one of them critically.

On Wednesday, the Qassam Brigades broadcast footage documenting the ambush targeting two Israeli armored personnel carriers in Khan Yunis. The Brigades stated that "the operation was carried out near the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Ma'an area, south of Khan Yunis." It added that it was part of a series of "Stones of David" operations.

The video clip, published by Al-Qassam, began with footage of Israeli vehicles moving around the area. Armored personnel carriers, tanks, and bulldozers were clearly visible, along with scenes of Israeli soldiers mounted on them in exposed positions.

Later footage shows the moment the ambush was carried out, which focused on targeting two of these vehicles. One of the Qassam Brigades fighters moved toward the rear vehicle, while another fighter, carrying a camera, advanced toward the front vehicle.

The video documented the moment an explosive device was thrown into the first tanker from its upper hatch, before the perpetrator withdrew from the scene. Seconds later, a loud explosion was heard targeting the front tanker, immediately followed by a second explosion targeting the rear tanker.

Al-Qassam Brigades said the two explosions were caused by the detonation of two explosive devices, "Shawaz" and "Fedayeen," which set the two tankers on fire and killed seven soldiers, including an officer, according to the Israeli military.