The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it was a “failure” that Hamas gunmen managed to breach an army encampment — including a building where troops were stationed — the previous day in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, despite the soldiers managing to fight back and successfully repel the attack, killing around 15 of the operatives.
According to the findings of an IDF probe of the incident, the Hamas operatives emerged from a tunnel some 40-50 meters from the military post, which served troops of the Kfir Infantry Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade’s 74th Battalion.
The tunnel had been known to the military, and part of it — including a main shaft– had been demolished previously. The gunmen apparently dug out a new shaft using the existing underground passage during the attack.
The gunmen split into three groups, with one stationed on a dirt mound for suppressive fire, the second heading into a building in the encampment that was not occupied by any soldiers, and the third attacking a building that had a platoon of soldiers stationed in it.
The platoon commander and another soldier heard noise from outside the building and headed out, where they came under fire from the Hamas gunmen. The officer then ran back inside and awakened other soldiers who had been sleeping, and they all took up positions inside the building.
Two Hamas gunmen breached the building where the troops were stationed. The operatives hurled grenades and opened fire as the soldiers shot back, in an exchange of fire that lasted around five minutes.
Fighting also took place outside the building with additional gunmen from the same group.
At least one of the gunmen was killed by the soldiers in the building, while the other fled and was killed outside, according to the IDF’s probe.
Three soldiers were injured in the exchange of fire, one seriously and two lightly. The seriously wounded soldier’s condition has since improved.
Meanwhile, a tank of the 74th Battalion shelled the empty building that the gunmen had entered, after spotting RPG fire from it, killing at least two of them.
A different tank spotted a Hamas operative inside the encampment who was preparing to fire an RPG, and ran him over.
Another operative was killed by the tanks nearby, and around three hours later — long after the main part of the fighting had ended — another gunman was spotted trying to flee and was killed by the armored forces.
Fighting inside the encampment lasted no longer than 10 minutes before the gunmen began attempting to flee back to the tunnel, according to the IDF’s probe. Israeli Air Force drones and helicopters were also dispatched and struck the fleeing gunmen.
In all, some eight Hamas gunmen were killed inside the post and in the area surrounding it, and around another seven operatives — who had been launching mortars — were eliminated on the outskirts, mainly by airstrikes. Approximately eight gunmen managed to flee back to the tunnel, the IDF probe found.
The IDF found that the gunmen were well-armed, with assault rifles, RPGs, grenades, and explosive devices. The military also found a stretcher left behind by the operatives inside the empty building, which it assessed was intended to be used to kidnap a wounded soldier.
Despite successfully repelling the attack, the military said it was a failure that the gunmen had managed to infiltrate the encampment without being noticed. The army had set up an ambush in the area in recent days after spotting suspicious movement, though it did not prove useful in spotting the operatives who carried out the attack.
The IDF described it as a “complex event,” but said the “bravery, determination, and initiative of the troops,” combined with support from the Israeli Air Force, managed to turn the tables.
The chief of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, toured the site on Wednesday with senior officers, conducting an initial debriefing. The IDF said Asor praised the troops’ actions, while pointing out “gaps that emerged… from which lessons must be learned and implemented quickly, in light of Hamas’s attempts to harm our forces.”
Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, took responsibility for the attack in a statement, claiming that its gunmen “stormed the site” and carried out a suicide bombing.
Al-Qassam claimed to have targeted several tanks with explosive devices and RPGs, and hit several buildings in the encampment being used by the IDF soldiers, using RPGs and machine-gun fire.
“A number of fighters stormed the houses and finished off a number of occupation soldiers inside from point-blank range with light weapons and hand grenades,” the terror group claimed, despite no Israeli soldiers having been killed in the incident.
The terror group also claimed to have carried out sniper fire that “fatally wounded” the commander of a tank, and that it carried out mortar shelling in the area “to secure the withdrawal of the fighters.”
“Upon the arrival of the rescue force, one of the martyrs detonated himself among the soldiers, leaving them dead and wounded,” Al-Qassam claimed.
During the war, Hamas has repeatedly made exaggerated claims regarding its operations against IDF troops in Gaza.
The incident on Wednesday marked a rare case of a relatively large cell of operatives attempting to attack an IDF post. Last month, a cell of at least 12 gunmen tried to attack an IDF logistics road in Khan Younis.
Wednesday’s attack came as the IDF was gearing up for a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza City.