Israel loses 24 troops as new truce deal emerges
Israeli soldiers are searching the bodies of their comrades under the rubble of a destroyed building
Daily TribuneIsraeli soldiers are searching the bodies of their comrades under the rubble of a destroyed building
This handout picture released by the Israeli army on December 19, 2023, shows a soldier operating as smoke billows in the Gaza Strip. © AFP PHOTO/Handout/Israeli Army
Monday was the deadliest day for Israeli troops battling Hamas terrorists in Gaza as 24 of them were killed in fighting.
Most of the soldiers were killed when rocket-propelled grenade fire hit a tank and a building they were trying to blow up, military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
Hagari said three other troops were killed earlier.
“We worked to find the victims until the last hours,” Hagari said, indicating the difficulty in extracting bodies buried under the rubble.
“Our reservists sacrificed what was dearest to them, so that we could all live here in complete safety,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israel has proposed to Hamas via Qatari and Egyptian mediators a pause in fighting of up to two months as part of a deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, the United States news site Axios reported Monday.
The report, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said the deal would take place in multiple stages, the first of which would see the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition.
Subsequent phases would involve the release of women soldiers, younger civilian men, male soldiers and the bodies of dead hostages.
The officials said the deal would also see the release of an as yet undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, but not all of them.
The proposal does not include promises to end the war, but it would involve Israeli troops reducing their presence in major cities in Gaza and gradually allowing residents to return to the territory’s devastated north.
The officials said the deal was expected to take around two months to implement.
Israeli outlet Ynet also reported on the proposal, citing unnamed sources, and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had alluded to it in a meeting with hostages’ families on Monday.
