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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/23/israeli-idf-demolition-gaza/">theintercept.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">21 Israeli Troops Killed While Planting Explosives for a Controlled Demolition in Gaza</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Jeremy Scahill</div>January 23, 2024</div><div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element"><span><br></span></div><div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element"><span>Israeli military forces</span> suffered their single largest
known loss of troops on Monday when 21 reserve soldiers died as they
tried to rig two buildings in southern Gaza with mines to perform a
controlled demolition. According to the Israeli Defense Forces
spokesperson, Hamas commandos fired a rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG,
at an Israeli tank that was deployed to protect the soldiers rigging the
buildings with bombs, causing a chain reaction that led to the
structures collapsing on top of the Israeli soldiers. </div><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<p>“At around 4 p.m., an RPG was fired by gunmen at a tank securing the
forces, and simultaneously, an explosion occurred in two two-story
buildings. The buildings collapsed due to this explosion, while most of
the forces were inside and near them,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson. “One of the missiles apparently hit
a mine, which exploded and caused the buildings to collapse with the
soldiers inside them.”</p>
<p>The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a statement
Tuesday describing an attack that was consistent with the time and
nature of the Israeli military’s description. While the IDF statement
was unclear about the exact cause of the explosion inside the buildings,
the Qassam Brigades said its operatives “targeted” the structure,
leading to the “explosion of the [IDF’s] ammunition and engineering
equipment,” “completely blowing [it] up.”</p>
<p>Such controlled demolitions have become an increasingly common tactic
used by Israeli forces in Gaza. The Israeli military has justified its
destruction of civilian housing and other infrastructure by claiming it
houses Hamas facilities or leaders or to gain access to subterranean
tunnels. In Monday’s incident, however, Hagari said the buildings were
marked for demolition because they were situated in an area of Gaza that
Israel unilaterally <a href="https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1749794139615432906" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">declared<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
a “buffer zone” between Gaza and Israel. He said the purpose was to
protect an Israeli kibbutz located a half mile from Gaza against
possible future attacks.</p>
<p>This appears to be the first time the Israeli military has publicly admitted that its systematic destruction of <a href="https://twitter.com/wesleysmorgan/status/1745512081514766712" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">whole areas<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
of eastern Gaza are not entirely aimed at destroying tunnels or other
Hamas infrastructure, but at depopulating more areas of Gaza in the name
of security for nearby Israeli settlements. “The IDF systematically
demolishes Palestinian buildings that enable surveillance and firing
capabilities toward Israel, leading to the destruction of hundreds of
buildings to date,” the IDF said in a <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkajm23yp" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">statement<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>.</p>
<p>Controlled demolitions against the property within an occupied territory are generally prohibited under <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/hague-conv-iv-1907/regulations-art-23" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">international humanitarian law<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a> unless they are “imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.” </p>
<p>But IDF soldiers have posted <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240103-israeli-soldiers-tiktok-videos-make-light-of-demolition-in-gaza/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">multiple videos<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
on TikTok and other social media sites of themselves gleefully hitting
the trigger button sparking massive controlled explosions in Palestinian
neighborhoods, as well as educational, cultural, and government
institutions. In a TikTok <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiC4ApANLwg" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">video<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
showing a military bulldozer knocking down houses in Khan Younis, an
Israeli soldier jokes that he and his colleagues are setting up a real
estate company. “This field is definitely worth investing in,” he says.
“For those who have money, this is the time to invest. Make an offer.”</p>
<p>On January 17, Israeli forces <a href="https://x.com/WAFANewsEnglish/status/1747968622398439782?s=20" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">blew up<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
Al-Isra University, reportedly rigging it with more than 300 mines
before conducting a triggering strike that leveled the entire campus.
“The explosion occurred 70 days after the Israeli military transformed
the school into barracks and, later, into a temporary detention
facility,” according to the humanitarian organization Euro-Med Human
Rights Monitor.</p>
<p>State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters he had
seen the video of the demolition of the privately owned school, but
refused to comment on the legality or justification for the operation. </p>
<p>“It looks like a controlled demolition,” said Associated Press correspondent Matt Lee during the <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-january-18-2024/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">briefing<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>.
“It looks like what we do here in this country, when we’re taking down
an old hotel or a stadium. And you have nothing to say? You have nothing
to say about this?” </p>
<p>Miller responded that the Biden administration had made inquiries
with the Israeli government about the bombing, “But I’m not able to
characterize the actual facts on the ground before hearing that
response.” Echoing Israeli inferences that Hamas used the university for
military purposes or had an underground facility, Miller added, “I
don’t know what was under that building. I don’t know what was inside,
inside that building.”</p>
<p>Monday’s mass casualty incident among the ranks of the IDF comes as Israel has become increasingly <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/12/20/gaza-israel-biden-netanyahu-war-strategy/">mired in a morass in its military battle </a>against
Hamas and other Palestinian guerrillas. Israel has, to date, confirmed
the deaths of 219 soldiers in Gaza ground operations. Significantly,
major U.S. and Israeli media outlets have begun to raise questions about
the prospects of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decisively achieving
any of the stated goals of the war. “Israel’s limited progress in
dismantling Hamas has raised doubts within the military’s high command
about the near-term feasibility of achieving the country’s principal
wartime objectives,” reported the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-hostages-strategy.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Times<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a> on January 20. Haaretz’s defense correspondent Amos Harel penned a January 19 <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-19/ty-article/.premium/netanyahus-government-gets-more-delusional-as-israels-campaign-in-gaza-grinds-on/0000018d-1e3d-dd75-addd-fefd93760000" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">column<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
warning of “clear signs that Israel is getting bogged down in the Gaza
quagmire” and saying Netanyahu’s government is increasingly
“delusional.”</p>
<p>Netanyahu responded to the deaths of the 21 soldiers killed in the
attempted demolition operation, and an additional three IDF soldiers
killed Monday, with a pugilistic declaration. “While we bow our heads in
memory of our fallen, we are not relenting — even for a moment — in
striving for the goal that has no alternative — achieving total
victory,” he <a href="https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/spoke-statement230124" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">said<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>.
“We are in the midst of a war, the justification of which is without
parallel.” Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant echoed those
sentiments, saying, “This is a war that will determine the future of
Israel for decades to come. The loss of these soldiers is an imperative
for achieving the goals of this war.”</p>
<p>While Israel is struggling in its stated aims of eliminating Hamas
and freeing the Israeli hostages, the IDF continues to prove murderously
adept at killing large numbers of Palestinian civilians. Its ground
operations in Khan Younis has seen IDF forces attack numerous shelters,
including those <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/23/israeli-idf-demolition-gaza/six">run by the U.N.</a>, where the Israeli government had instructed Palestinians to flee to remain safe. It has also laid siege to more hospitals and <a href="https://twitter.com/PalestineRCS/status/1749331809395958042" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">medical facilities<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>. A <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-israel-intensifies-khan-younis-attacks-killing-dozens-civilians-and-besieging#:~:text=Israeli%20soldiers%20stormed%20homes%20in,30%2C000%20people%20have%20sought%20refuge." rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">mass grave<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a> has now been dug on the grounds of Nasser Hospital to bury Palestinians killed in the intense Israeli attacks on Khan Younis.</p>
<p>This week, the conservative death figures published by the Gaza
health ministry reported that the number of fatalities in the enclave
had surpassed 25,000 Palestinians, with another 63,000 wounded. These
numbers only include cases where deaths have been officially recorded by
Gaza’s hospital and mortuary system. They do not include the thousands
of Palestinians unaccounted for and trapped under rubble caused by
Israeli bombardment and fighting.</p>
<p>Israeli media outlets are focused on the loss of lives of their
nation’s soldiers in Monday’s incident, displaying photographs of the
dead and describing the efforts to retrieve any possible survivors.
“Rescue forces described the scene as reminiscent of the aftermath of an
earthquake,” <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-it-is-probing-demolition-of-campus-in-gaza-last-week-after-us-voiced-ire/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">reported<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
The Times of Israel. “For several hours, a large number of troops from
the IDF’s search and rescue units, as well as members of the Israel Fire
and Rescue Services, worked to extract the casualties from the
collapsed buildings.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2023/12/28/under-the-rubble-the-missing-in-gaza" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">estimated 7,000 Palestinians<span>Opens in a new tab</span></a>
trapped under the rubble of their former homes and other structures
receive no such media coverage. They are simply nameless statistics
often omitted from the descriptions of the carnage in Gaza, a mass
destruction enabled primarily by U.S.-supplied and manufactured bombs.
The vast majority of these victims have no official search-and-rescue
operation and no fire department to respond to their desperate, muffled
pleas for help. Often their only hope is that their neighbors might
somehow claw their way through the heavy concrete wreckage using
whatever tools they can find. Or they are left, trapped, spending their
last moments desperately scraping their own hands raw and bloody in an
effort to dig their way out.</p>
<p><strong>Correction: January 23, 2024, 1:45 p.m. ET</strong><br><em>Al-Isra University in Gaza was blown up on January 17, not January 18, as previously reported.</em> <em>The piece was also updated to include more details from Hamas’s statement on the incident.</em></p>
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