2023-12-24 08:58:01
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — More than a dozen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the deadliest days of fighting since the war began. Israeli ground offensive at the end of October, an indication that Hamas continues to fight despite weeks of brutal war.
The rising death toll among Israeli troops is likely to be a major factor in Israeli public support for the war, triggered by a Hamas-led militant assault on towns in southern Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed. killed and 240 were captured. The war has devastated parts of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 20,000 Palestinians and displacing nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Israelis strongly support the country’s stated goals of crushing Gaza’s military and governance capacity and freeing the 129 remaining hostages. That support has largely been maintained despite growing international pressure against the Israeli offensive. the rising death toll and the unprecedented suffering of the Palestinians.
But the growing number of dead soldiers could undermine that support. Soldier deaths are a sensitive and emotional issue in Israel, a country where there is mandatory military service for most Jews.
The names of fallen soldiers are announced at the top of the news, and in a small country of about 9 million people, virtually every family has a family member, friend or co-worker who has lost a relative in war.
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Shurafa reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip. Magdy reported from Cairo.
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