The IDF’s death toll is rising

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have suffered their deadliest day since the 7 October massacre. Nine soldiers were killed, including the Golani Brigade’s 13th battalion commander, during a coordinated Hamas ambush in the Shujaiyeh neighbourhood of Gaza city. The attack was a rare success for Hamas, but despite the painful blow to the IDF, troops still have high morale and the Israeli public continues to support the war – at least for now.

The scene of the ambush is no surprise: Shujaiyeh is a small, densely-populated neighbourhood. Before war between Israel and Hamas broke out, it was home to roughly 100,000 people. Many inhabitants have fled, but the area remains strategically important to both sides, not least because of its proximity to the border with Israel. The town is only half a mile away from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where Jews were slaughtered and kidnapped during Hamas’s attack on 7 October. Israel believes that Shujaiyeh is a Hamas stronghold where the terror attack was planned and coordinated from.