Hamas fighters killed 15 Israeli soldiers in Rafah on 18 May, as Palestinian civilians continue to face the threat of displacement and starvation amid Israel's ongoing attack on the southern Gaza border city,
The Cradle reports.
The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, announced that "its forces were able to finish off 15 Zionist soldiers east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip."
Qassam said in a statement that this came "after a Qassam group stormed a house in which a large number of soldiers were barricaded and clashed with them from a distance of zero, after which our mujahideen detonated an anti-personnel device in the Al-Tanour neighborhood, east of the Palestinian city."
An Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah killed two civilians on Friday night, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Israeli artillery also struck the east and center of Rafah, Wafa added.
The Israeli army began its Rafah offensive on 6 May, months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to assault the city, where he claimed Qassam has four remaining battalions.
Earlier this week, Israel began a massive operation in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, which has also been met by stiff resistance, months after the army claimed to have defeated Hamas there. Israeli air strikes hit targets in Jabaliya overnight on Friday after Israeli tanks and ground troops fought battles with Qassam fighters who were using anti-tank missiles and mortars in the narrow alleyways of Gaza's largest refugee camp.
Palestinian civilians continue to face displacement and death as a result of the Israeli invasions of both Jabaliya and Rafah.
