Ambush kills nine Israeli soldiers in Gaza City, where battles rage weeks into devastating offensive

Palestinian militants ambushed Israeli troops in a dense Gaza City neighbourhood, killing at least nine of them, the military said

Palestinian militants ambushed Israeli troops in a dense Gaza City neighbourhood, killing at least nine of them, the military said on December 13, as Hamas put up stiff resistance in areas that Israel has isolated and pounded with airstrikes for over two months.

The air and ground war has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and pushed nearly 85% of Gaza’s population from their homes, sparking international outrage. The U.S. has repeatedly called on Israel to take greater measures to spare civilians, even as it has blocked international calls for a cease-fire and rushed military aid to its close ally.

More than six weeks after Israeli soldiers invaded Gaza's north in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attack, ground troops are still locked in heavy combat with Palestinian fighters in and around Gaza City. Clashes raged overnight and into Wednesday in multiple areas, with especially heavy fighting in Shijaiyah, a dense neighbourhood that was the scene of a major battle during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.

“It’s terrifying. We couldn’t sleep,” Mustafa Abu Taha, a Palestinian agricultural worker who lives in the neighborhood, said by phone. “The situation is getting worse and we don’t have a safe place to go.”

Troops who were searching a cluster of buildings in Shijaiyah on Tuesday lost communication with four soldiers who had come under fire, the military said. When the other soldiers launched a rescue operation, they were ambushed with heavy gunfire and explosives.

Among the nine dead were Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, the most senior officer to have been killed in the ground operation, and Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, a battalion commander.

Heavy rainfall overnight swamped tent camps in Gaza's south, where Israel has told people to seek refuge, even as that region has also come under repeated aerial bombardment.