Hamas army wing confirms killing 8 Israeli soldiers

The military wing of Hamas, Qassam Brigades, Thursday confirmed they killed eight Israeli soldiers in north-eastern Gaza City.
Observes said this to be the deadliest attack on the Israeli military since the ground invasion began last week.
Qassam Brigades said that they infiltrated into the eastern part of Al Tuffah neighbourhood early today and attacked Israeli soldiers deployed there.
The group said they destroyed an armored personnel carrier with an RPG 29, a rocket-propelled grenade.
The Brigades also declared that their fighters clashed with Israeli soldiers in two areas in northern Beit Hanoun. On Sunday, Hamas fighters killed seven Israeli soldiers in a similar attack on an armed personnel carrier.
Earlier this morning, rescue crew transferred six Israeli soldiers, wounded in Gaza Strip clashes, to Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheva, according to Israeli Channel Seven. Helicopters have not stopped bringing wounded troopers since the start of ground operations six days ago, the Channel's correspondent reported.
The death toll is up to 733 and more than 4,605 injured since Israel launched military offensive, Arab media reported today. Since dawn today 37 more have been killed in Gaza, according to an Arab media report today.
The reported quoted Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qodra saying Mohammed Ibrahim Abu, 41 and Akram Ibrahim Abu, 50, are two among those killed in southern Gaza Strip.
He also announced the death of Mohammed Ahmed Al Najjar and Shadi Najjar following random artillery attack in Khuza area, and Israeli shelling killed a further ten people in Khan Younis in the south.
In response to Red Cross request, Israeli authorities stopped shooting this morning at several locations to allow evacuation of the wounded, sources told Arab media.
Palestinian resistance groups have engaged Israeli military in intense clashes across the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the ground invasion last week, reports said.