Eight Israeli soldiers killed by blast in south Gaza's Rafah, IDF announces (2024)

Sergeant Yair Roitman, 19-years-old from Karnei Shomron, died of wounds he sustained on Monday during an explosion in a booby-trapped house in south Gaza's Rafah, the Israeli army announced Saturday.

Organizers of the nationwide protests calling for a hostage release deal and new government declared a week of resistance that will begin on Sunday, saying "next week will be the last week of Netanyahu's destructive government."

Ayala Metzger, whose father-in-law Yoram Metzger died in Hamas captivity, spoke on the stage at Democracy Square in Tel Aviv, calling on the public to block highways and streets, demonstrate outside the residences of ministers, and practice civil disobedience during the coming days.

"We are sick of being here. But we don't have the right to despair ... We need to be the soldiers of change, the change that we owe the hostages," she said.

The organizers asked the protesters to stay and block the Begin-Kaplan intersection in central Tel Aviv until midnight. Thousands are staying, with some sitting on the road.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Saturday that he has been in close contact with Israeli negotiators as well as with the Qataris and Egyptians, and expects to receive a full assessment from Qatar's prime minister on Sunday.

Sullivan reiterated his view that some of Hamas' proposed changes to the cease-fire proposal on the table are not unexpected and can be managed, but that some are inconsistent with the deal proposed by Biden and approved by the UN Security Council.

"The next step is really for the Qatari and Egyptian mediators to engage Hamas to go through ... what can be worked with and what really can't be worked with" and receive feedback from the group, Sullivan said. "We're entering an important holiday, Eid, so the speed with which that next segment of this extended diplomatic effort takes place it might be a little slower over the next few days than it has been.

Sullivan added that he anticipated a "back and forth between the mediators and Hamas" and expects to provide a status report next week.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said that the explosion of an armored personnel carrier on Saturday, in which eight soldiers were killed, was most likely caused by "a planted explosive device in the area or anti-tank missile fire."

Hagari added that a team of experts from the Defense Ministry and IDF will examine the carrier vehicle and all details of the incident.

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Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said in a statement Saturday that it will not be possible to return all the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip in the same manner that four hostages were rescued from the Nuseirat refugee camp last week.

A rocket exploded near the Gaza border kibbutz of Kissufim on Saturday, igniting a fire, the Eshkol Regional Council said. Firefighting crews are working on the scene to extinguish the fire.

Here are the latest updates from day 253 of the Israel-Hamas war:

■ Eight soldiers were killed in an explosion in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the IDF announced.

■ Israel's defense minister has accepted an invitation to visit the Pentagon, according to a statement released by a Pentagon spokesperson.

■ A French court ordered organizers of the annual Eurosatory arms exhibition to prohibit the entry of "possible intermediaries for Israeli companies" into the event, Le Parisien reported.

■ Several drones that crossed from Lebanon crashed in northern Israel, igniting fires.

■ Rocket sirens sounded in near the Gaza border.

■ A 16-year-old boy was killed Saturday by Israeli fire near the West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said.

■ The U.K., Germany and France condemned Iran's expansion of its nuclear program in a joint statement Saturday.

Read the full recap for day 253 of the Israel-Hamas war here

Israeli police released additional footage of the rescue of four hostages from Hamas captivity last Saturday.

In the footage, the rescuers can be heard saying to rescued hostage Noa Argamani, "Noa, everything's okay, we're taking you home. You're safe ... We're very excited that you're here, and we're proud of you."

Argamani can then be heard saying to her rescuers, "I'm very excited, I'm just scared."

A suspicious aerial object on its way to Israel from the east was intercepted Saturday evening, according to the Israeli army.

The army said that the object fell outside of Israel's territory, but that due to concerns over falling shrapnel, sirens sounded in the village of Na'ura, east of the northern Israeli city of Afula.

There were no casualties.

A French court ordered organizers of the annual Eurosatory arms exhibition, which will be held near Paris this week, to prohibit the entry of "possible intermediaries for Israeli companies" into the event, French news outlet Le Parisien reported Saturday.

The French authorities cancelled the participation of 74 Israeli defense companies in the expo around two weeks ago, after Israel embarked on an operation in Rafah. France's Ministry of Armed Forces said that the conditions for accepting the Israeli companies' participation were "no longer met while the French president is calling for an end to Israeli operations in Rafah."

According to the Le Parisien report, pro-Palestinian organizations appealed to the court requesting to compel the expo's organizers to ensure that there would be no Israeli presence at the event. The judges then determined that it was not enough to cancel the participation of Israeli companies, ruling that the participation of any possible "intermediaries for Israeli companies" should also be banned.

Following the criticism France leveled against Israel's conduct in Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that Israel would not be party to the framework French President Emmanuel Macron was interested in establishing with the aim of reducing tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

"As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel," Gallant wrote in a post on X. "In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men. Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France."