Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to fight on in the war against Hamas, despite a mounting death toll and growing international calls to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in the Palestinian enclave and halt the war.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 14 of its soldiers had been killed in Gaza as it expanded its ground operations and engaged in “complex combat in densely populated areas”. This included in the southern city of Khan Younis, considered a Hamas stronghold, and the central refugee camps that had been largely spared so far.
The death toll among Israeli forces has climbed steadily since a week-long ceasefire collapsed earlier this month, with 153 soldiers killed since the launch of a ground offensive into the strip in late October.