The Israeli army announced today, Thursday, that it has taken control of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, where the battles have been described as the fiercest and most intense, according to the "Times of Israel." The army stated in a communiqué that the 36th Division has completed the "dismantling of Hamas's core capabilities" in Shuja'iyya, and that the forces "will continue to carry out limited operations in the neighborhood to destroy the remaining infrastructure of Hamas and kill any activists still hiding."
The Israeli army also indicated that the fighting in Shuja'iyya resulted in "the killing of many Hamas militants" and reported an incident in which nine soldiers, including two senior officers, were killed in an ambush set by Hamas. According to the Israeli army's statement reported by the newspaper, the paratrooper battalion has demolished more than 100 buildings used by Hamas in Shuja'iyya and found dozens of tunnel openings, arresting several Hamas militants. The Israeli army claims that among those arrested is a commander of a Hamas company and armed individuals who participated in the attack on October 7.
In contrast, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced today that they had killed 19 Israeli soldiers in battles in the Gaza Strip. The brigades stated that their fighters attacked a house where several Israeli soldiers had taken cover, killing six of them and injuring others, and targeted an Israeli special force in the Al-Tuwam area north of Gaza City with improvised explosive devices and heavy machine guns, killing 11 soldiers and detonating an anti-personnel device against their support unit consisting of eight soldiers.
Earlier today, Al-Qassam Brigades also announced the sniping of two Israeli soldiers in Gaza City. A statement from Al-Qassam via Telegram mentioned that they targeted seven Israeli vehicles at various combat locations, achieving injuries and destroying some. Hamas did not disclose the number of its own casualties. The Israeli army reported killing at least seven thousand militants.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced today that 40 of its soldiers were injured in the battles in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 8 in serious condition. The army updated the number of injured soldiers since the beginning of the war to reach 1929, according to the newspaper "Haaretz." The total announced number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation in Gaza has risen to 137.
