Eight Israeli soldiers killed as fighting continues in Rafah

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the military, as forces continued their operations around the southern city of Rafah. Strikes hit several areas of Gaza, resulting in at least 19 Palestinian deaths.

The soldiers, all from a combat engineering unit, were inside an armored carrier that was struck by an explosion. This blast ignited the engineering materials on board, which were being transported in violation of standard procedures, according to the military. The incident occurred early in the morning in the Tel al-Sultan area in western Rafah and is under investigation.

Hamas claimed that the vehicle had entered a prepared minefield, triggering the explosion.

Israeli tanks advanced into Tel al-Sultan, and shells landed in the coastal region where thousands of Palestinians, many already displaced multiple times, sought refuge.

Despite increasing international calls for a ceasefire, an agreement remains elusive more than eight months after the war began in October. The daily cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon have been intensifying.

In Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza City suburbs, residents reported at least 15 fatalities. Additionally, four people were killed in separate attacks in the south, according to medics.

On Saturday, the Israeli military reported that its forces in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city near the Egyptian border, had seized large quantities of weapons, both on the surface and hidden within Hamas's extensive tunnel network.