The deaths of five Israeli soldiers in a Hamas ambush in northern Gaza have reportedly reignited a fierce debate within Israel about the viability of continuing its nearly two-year-long war in the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that the soldiers were killed late Monday near the town of Beit Hanoun, a site of repeated clashes since the war’s outset in October 2023.
According to officials, the troops were on patrol when a series of improvised explosive devices detonated along the road. As medics rushed in to extract the wounded, Hamas gunmen opened fire, turning the rescue into a second wave of the assault.
Military officials described the attack as unusually well-coordinated, suggesting a tactical evolution by the militant group nearly 21 months into a campaign Israel has sought to portray as systematically dismantling Hamas’s capabilities.
Since the conclusion of a brief but volatile 12-day conflict with Iran in late June, at least 17 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, making this one of the deadliest stretches for Israeli forces in recent months.
The mounting losses have intensified pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, both from the public and within his own ruling coalition.
Talks are currently underway over a proposed 60-day cease-fire agreement, which would include the release of 10 Israeli hostages believed to be alive in Gaza. The prospect of a temporary truce has widened divisions in Israeli political discourse.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, writing on social media, called for an end to the war “for our soldiers, for their families, for the hostages, for the state of Israel.”
Polling indicates that a majority of Israelis support ending the conflict in exchange for the return of remaining hostages, with roughly 50 believed still held, 20 of whom are presumed alive.
But others in Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc view the renewed attacks as evidence that Hamas remains far from defeated.
Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi dismissed recent military assessments that the group’s infrastructure is crippled, arguing that Hamas and allied factions still field roughly 35,000 fighters — similar to their estimated strength at the start of the war.
“The problem is our strategy,” Halevi said, calling for a sustained siege in Gaza’s south and a reconfiguration of Israel’s military objectives. “We cannot keep sending soldiers into the same traps.”
Israel claims to have killed some 21,000 militants in Gaza. Local health authorities in Gaza report more than 57,000 Palestinian fatalities, though they do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
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