“A disaster in Gaza,” “the most difficult incident,” “a difficult and unbearable morning.” These phrases are among the most widely circulated on official and unofficial Israeli communication platforms after the Israeli army announced the killing of 24 officers and soldiers in the Gaza battles within 24 hours.
Since yesterday, Monday, the accounts of the Israeli Ministry of Defense on social media platforms began publishing the names and pictures of its soldiers who were killed in the Gaza battles. Today, Tuesday, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari appeared with a look of sadness and grief on his face, announcing the killing of 21 officers and soldiers from the Israeli reserve forces who were killed in the bombing of two buildings in Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the killing of soldiers in the Maghazi camp occurred 600 meters from the border fence, and that operations to rescue victims from under the rubble continued for many hours.
Al Jazeera broadcast a clip showing the moment of the explosion of a building in the Maghazi camp in which the occupation forces had barricaded themselves after it was targeted by Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza.
The killing of Israeli officers and soldiers sparked a state of shock on Israeli social media platforms, and accounts began publishing photos of the officers and soldiers whose names and photos were allowed to be published.
The Israeli Prime Minister offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers and officers who were killed, saying, “Yesterday we witnessed one of the most difficult days since the outbreak of the war. I ask to extend our sincere condolences to the dear families of our brave fighters who fell on the battlefield. I know that the lives of these families have changed forever. I am saddened.” For the fall of our brave soldiers, I embrace the families in their anguish as we all pray for the recovery of our wounded. The IDF has begun investigating the circumstances of the tragedy. We must draw the necessary lessons and do everything in our power to preserve the lives of our fighters, in the name of our heroes, and for our lives. We stop fighting until absolute victory is achieved.”
In the name of our heroes, and for our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory is achieved.
– Prime Minister of the State of Israel (@Israelipm_ar) January 23, 2024
But Netanyahu’s condolences to the families of the dead aroused the anger of many followers, who described him as a failure and held him primarily responsible for the terrible situation in which Israel now finds itself, for the never-ending nightmare, and for the endless black hole. They demanded that he stop lying to Israeli citizens, as well as Others called on him to resign, and asked him how many Israeli army forces would be killed before he resigned.
But how did the audience on social media platforms in the Arab world react to the news of the killing of 24 Israeli officers and soldiers in 24 hours? Tweeters commented on the news as “a good morning” and described the operation as thoughtful and precise. They said that the Palestinian resistance had caught the Israeli forces in a trap. After they let them bomb houses, they targeted them. The resistance fired a missile that cost no more than $10, which blew up the place, killing 21 officers and soldiers at once.
Following the occupation army conference, the Al-Qassam Brigades hinted that the number of dead Zionist soldiers was greater than 21, in reference to what happened to the occupation soldiers in the Gaza Strip yesterday evening. pic.twitter.com/iccm4NdnI1
– Radwan Al-Akhras (@rdooan) January 23, 2024
Some observers commented by saying, “After the specific operation of the Palestinian resistance, it seems that the leaders of the occupation army will raise the ceiling of their feelings of disappointment, despair and frustration and read the scene from a field perspective indicating that a battalion or several companies were completely annihilated and fell into an elaborate trap.”
With this confession, it seems that the leaders of the occupation army are raising the ceiling of feelings of disappointment, despair, and frustration, and reading the scene from a field perspective indicates that a battalion or several companies were completely annihilated and caught in an elaborate trap. This will double the massacres against children, women, and civilians in Gaza for revenge.
— Adam Omar (@AdamOmar71255) January 23, 2024
Bloggers said that the Israeli army sent large numbers that were not experienced in urban combat into Gaza, which increased the chance that they would be targeted by Palestinian resistance factions. Tweeters also repeated Abu Ubaida’s famous saying, “Here are the sands of Gaza swallowing their soldiers.”
They were sent in large numbers and were not experienced in fighting cities, so there was a great opportunity to target them and put pressure on stopping the aggression against their will, no matter what they said… What is clear is a miserable failure for them, just follow them…
— Mansour bergn (@bergn_mansour) January 23, 2024
While some observers pointed out that the Israeli army underestimates the number of its deaths, and does not announce the real numbers in order not to frustrate the rest of the fighting forces in the Gaza Strip, and they added that the operation came more than 100 days after the ground invasion of the Strip, which proves the failure of Israeli military intelligence in Its information gathering and inability to protect its forces from Palestinian resistance attacks.
With the Israeli army announcing the killing of 24 soldiers, the total number of occupation deaths has risen to 559 since the start of the war on October 7, including 229 killed since the ground invasion as a result of the ongoing clashes with the Palestinian resistance.