Hamas says Israeli soldiers killed, injured in southern Gaza Strip

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Saturday that it killed Israeli soldiers in an attack in the southern Gaza Strip.

The group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said its fighters "raided on Friday morning a gathering of enemy soldiers and vehicles next to the Education Directorate in the Al-Mahatta area in the center of Khan Younis city, southern Gaza Strip."

The group said there were deaths and injuries among Israeli forces but did not provide specific figures.

Two Israeli Merkava tanks were also targeted with a Shawaz explosive device, in addition to a troop carrier with a Yasin-105 shell, the statement added.

Israel's rescue teams that arrived at the scene were also targeted with light and medium weapons, it added.

On Friday, the Israeli army confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed and two others were seriously injured in the Gaza Strip.

According to official Israeli figures, 883 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 6,032 others wounded during ground assaults since the start of its war on the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 7, 2023.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.