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Israeli media reported that 4 soldiers were missing, and others were killed and wounded in Gaza, as part of a large ambush to capture Israeli soldiers carried out by the Qassam Brigades in the Zeitoun neighbourhood east of Gaza City.

Sources reported that the operation began with a large ambush in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, which resulted in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers, while other reports confirmed injuries described as critical.

Hebrew media added that the Israeli army deployed 6 additional helicopters to evacuate the dead and wounded from the ambush site, while firing flares intensively into the skies over central Gaza in an attempt to secure its forces.

Reports also indicated that the Israeli army activated the Hannibal Protocol, an emergency military measure used in such situations to prevent its soldiers from being captured.

Sources confirmed that forces from the (162) Division and the (401) Armoured Brigade were the ones who fell into the ambush, and that these forces were under heavy field pressure due to fighting in the Zeitoun neighbourhood with the arrival of more Palestinian fighters to support the operation.

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Israeli media reported that Qassam fighters attempted to capture soldiers during the ambush in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, while the Israeli army continues extensive searches for the missing soldiers.

Reports also indicated that the first operation took place in the Zeitoun neighbourhood when a force from the Nahal Brigade fell into a well-planned ambush, killing one soldier and wounding others. Other forces were then subjected to a second ambush in the Sabra neighbourhood, prompting Israeli helicopters to intervene and bomb the site.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), confirmed that the Palestinian resistance is on high alert to confront Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza City, which he said would be devastating for the occupation’s political and military leadership. He noted that the Israeli prisoners would be with the resistance fighters in the fighting areas.

In a series of posts on Telegram on Friday evening, Abu Obeida said that the plans to occupy Gaza “will be paid for by the enemy army in the blood of its soldiers, and will increase the chances of capturing new soldiers, God willing.”