In an explosion, twenty-one reservists lost their lives.
According to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief spokesman Daniel Hagari, it is believed that two buildings they were in were struck by a tank by a rocket-propelled grenade that was fired by Palestinian armed fighters.
He said that the buildings most likely exploded because Israeli forces had planted mines there to destroy them.
The IDF claims that it is still looking into the specifics of what transpired.
Rear Admiral Hagari said that the reservists were killed on Monday at around 16:00 (14:00 GMT) in central Gaza, near the Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim.
He said that they were part of an operation that would enable the safe return of tens of thousands of southern Israelis to their homes following the evacuation caused by the Hamas attack on October 7.
The Israeli military had previously announced on Monday that three officers had died in a different attack that occurred in the southern part of Gaza.
The deaths on Monday were referred to as “one of the most difficult days since the war erupted” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He posted on X, the former Twitter platform, saying, “In the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory.”
When he learned the full number of deaths, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it had been a “unbearably difficult morning”.
“On behalf of the entire nation, I console the families and pray for the healing of the wounded,” said the president.
Israel declared that its goal in starting the war was to destroy Hamas after waves of its gunmen carried out an unprecedented attack that claimed 1,300 lives, the majority of them civilians, and kidnapped roughly 250 more.
Out of the 545 soldiers killed since October 7, 217 have died since the start of Israel’s ground invasion on October 27, according to the IDF website.
Since then, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 25,295 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.
