Yisrael Katz: “Tough Day” for Israeli Forces Amid Escalating Resistance in Gaza

Watan-Israeli occupation forces carried out several deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip, deliberately bombing displacement tents and launching air raids in the form of “fire belts” across areas where residents had been threatened with forced displacement. Meanwhile, Gaza’s Civil Defense called for an urgent humanitarian truce, and the United Nations warned of a potential shutdown of Gaza’s humanitarian “lifeline.”

According to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, 71 Palestinians—including children, women, and 24 individuals waiting for aid—were killed and dozens more injured since early Friday in scattered Israeli bombings and gunfire across the strip.

The Israeli army claimed Friday that it now has “operational control” over about 65% of Gaza’s territory, despite growing battlefield difficulties due to Palestinian resistance.

Since March 18, the date the war resumed, 33 Israeli soldiers have been killed, as reported by Israeli Army Radio. On Friday alone, the military acknowledged two more soldiers killed and two seriously wounded in battles in northern and southern Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described the day as “difficult.”

Palestinian Armed Resistance:

• Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced it had targeted a Merkava tank with a “Yassin 105” shell in eastern Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighborhood, and shelled an Israeli command center in the same area with three mortar rounds.

• Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, released footage of a “complex special operation” in eastern Shuja’iyya, in which militants ambushed Israeli soldiers and vehicles, even attacking the homes Israeli forces had fortified themselves in.

• A commander in the operation said:“The enemy soldiers lost all initiative and reaction. They fled screaming without firing at our fighters.”
  “We saw charred corpses of enemy soldiers and officers. As always, the enemy lies and conceals its losses.”

Other factions, including Omar al-Qassem Forces, Al-Nasser Brigades, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, also claimed a series of operations.

 Humanitarian Crisis

Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal urged international mediators and the global community to immediately declare a comprehensive humanitarian truce until a final agreement is reached.

Gaza Municipality announced a reduction in basic services, warning that the ongoing displacement crisis and shortage of resources are exacerbating the humanitarian disaster, with rising thirst, disease, and environmental risks.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel—backed by the United States—has waged a war in Gaza described by many observers and institutions as genocidal. The war has killed or injured more than 192,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, with over 10,000 missing, and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, while famine and disease continue to claim lives—especially among children.