Israeli news outlet Hadashot B’Zman described the ambushes that targeted Israeli occupation forces on Saturday evening in Gaza as “duck-hunting traps”—a metaphor suggesting that the soldiers had become easy prey for the Palestinian resistance. Reports indicate at least four soldiers are missing and more than ten are killed or wounded.
Over the past hours, events escalated sharply in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, following a series of fierce clashes between occupation forces and Palestinian fighters. While Israel’s military censorship imposed a publishing ban on the unfolding developments, and the army maintained total silence up to the time of writing, Hebrew media outlets acknowledged that the Al-Zaytoun ambushes rank among the most difficult security incidents since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023.
According to Israeli sources, the resistance did not stop at direct engagement. It also continued to pound the ambush perimeter with mortar shells, preventing Israeli rescue units from reaching their stranded soldiers. Reports further suggested that the four missing troops may have been captured, though no official confirmation has been released.
Three Simultaneous Ambushes
Israeli outlets confirmed that Gaza witnessed three coordinated ambushes that inflicted losses on the occupation:
- First Ambush: Targeted a Nahal Brigade unit inside Al-Zaytoun, killing one soldier and wounding others.
- Second Ambush: Took place in the adjacent Al-Sabra neighbourhood, where Israeli helicopters were called in to secure troop movement or cover a retreat.
- Third Ambush: An ongoing battle inside Al-Zaytoun, where resistance fighters attempted to capture soldiers while continuing to rain mortars to block rescue operations.
Army Withdrawal and the Hannibal Protocol
Up to this moment, the Israeli occupation army has refrained from issuing details. However, Hebrew media reported that the army began withdrawing troops from Al-Zaytoun and returning them to their barracks. It was also revealed that Israel activated the Hannibal Protocol, a secretive military directive designed to prevent soldiers from being taken captive—even at the cost of their lives.
Originally crafted in the 1980s, the Hannibal Protocol authorises massive firepower—including artillery and airstrikes—on the very site where a suspected capture occurs. While its stated goal is to thwart kidnappings, in practice it often means deliberately endangering or even killing the captured soldier to prevent him from falling alive into enemy hands.
Israeli outlets launched scathing criticism at their own leadership. Hadashot B’Zman accused the government of being “reckless and extremist,” exposing troop movements in advance and leaving soldiers vulnerable to resistance traps. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the outlet argued, has proven “incapable of protecting his soldiers” and is leading Israel into field disasters that undermine both security and prisoner issues.
Abu Ubaida’s Signal
Just hours before the ambushes, Abu Ubaida, the military spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigades, warned:
“The enemy’s criminal plans to occupy Gaza will be a curse on its political and military leadership. Its army will pay with the blood of its soldiers, and the chances of capturing more soldiers will only increase, by the will of Allah.”
In statements published via Telegram, Abu Ubaida affirmed that the fighters of Al-Qassam remain on high alert, with strong morale, ready to present models of sacrifice and heroism that will deliver the invaders painful lessons.
He further stressed:
- Netanyahu and his ministers—whom he described as war criminals and Nazis—are deliberately reducing the number of their soldiers alive in captivity.
- Israel bears full responsibility for the fate of its soldiers, alive or dead.
- The resistance will safeguard captives as much as possible, keeping them alongside fighters on the battlefield in the same conditions of danger and hardship.
- Every soldier killed by Israeli fire will be announced publicly, with name, photo, and proof of death.
Shortly after, the Al-Qassam Brigades released an image with the caption: “We remind those who forget: death or captivity.”
Al-Zaytoun: A Repeated Battlefield
The Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood has long been recognised as one of Gaza’s most treacherous battlefields. It has witnessed repeated confrontations that inflicted heavy Israeli losses, making it a place the occupation itself regards as a “field trap.”
In May 2024, four soldiers from the Nahal Brigade were lost during a raid on a school in Al-Zaytoun after a powerful explosive device detonated. That incident was no anomaly: it was part of a pattern of bloody battles in which Israeli forces suffered significant human and material losses, including destroyed armoured vehicles and damaged infantry units.
Military analysts note that Palestinian resistance fighters exploit intimate knowledge of the terrain, relying on an extensive tunnel network to launch surprise strikes and reposition before Israeli airpower can respond.
For the Israeli army, Al-Zaytoun is now classified as a “red zone”—a zone where ground incursions almost always encounter carefully prepared defensive traps. And in the current war, the pattern repeats: units fall into ambushes, mortars disrupt rescue efforts, and street-fighting tactics force the occupier into a brutal urban battlefield where resistance holds the upper hand.
