The IDF announced on Wednesday that four soldiers were wounded in Tubas in the northern West Bank after their partially armored David vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive.
The IDF did not provide how many times this has happened, but it has already reported on several such instances in recent months, starting with a June 27 incident in Jenin in which one soldier was killed and 22 were wounded.
On Wednesday, two soldiers were moderately wounded and another two soldiers were lightly wounded.
These soldiers were wounded during a 12-hour operation that also led to the killing of five Palestinian terrorists and concluded on Wednesday.
Four of the terrorists were killed by an IDF drone strike.
According to the military, an unidentified member of a terror group in the area was killed during an exchange of fire with the IDF troops.
Three additional Palestinians suspected of terrorism were arrested, said the IDF.
In addition, the IDF seized five M-16 assault rifles and one Carlo submachine gun, as well as explosive devices and other weapons.
During the June 27 incident, a Panther armored vehicle drove over a road where there was one of multiple planted explosive devices underground.
The road had already been bulldozed and “cleared” by an IDF D-9 bulldozer to ensure that such hidden improvised explosive devices could not ambush the soldiers.
The initial injuries to the soldiers within the Panther were much more limited, but nearby Palestinians activated a second improvised explosive device – possibly remotely – against the rescuers.
During the June 27 incident, the IDF said that the D-9 missed the explosive devices because they were buried at a much deeper depth than usual.
Until then, the devices had been buried around 40 to 50 cm. under a road.
These devices were probably placed around 1.5 m. deep.
According to public records, D-9's standard digging depth cuts off at less than 70 cm.
Of course, if a D-9 does multiple runs through a specific area, it can go much deeper, but this creates other operational dilemmas when operating in a hostile environment and trying to maintain an element of surprise and quick and decisive action.
Back in June, the IDF was unclear how it would overcome such ambushes if the Palestinians copied their success in the future and based on numerous such incidents, including Wednesday, it does not seem that the military has arrived at a solution.
What operations are the IDF carrying out in Gaza?
In southern Gaza, the IDF announced on Wednesday that the air force struck a Hamas rocket launch site near a humanitarian aid route in Khan Yunis from which the terror group had fired rockets on Tuesday.
This attack was more significant than regular attacks on Hamas rocket launch sites because the organization had fired two M-90 long-range rockets, one of the first time in months they had managed to fire anything but short-range rockets.
Ultimately, one of the rockets landed in the sea and the other did not even reach Israeli territory given the long distance from southern Gaza.
However, the two rockets could have potentially hit Tel Aviv and central Israel based on their maximum range.
The IDF strikes were carried out adjacent to the launch site, outside of the humanitarian aid route with the military noting in a statement that Hamas continues to flagrantly violate the laws of war by placing rocket launchers next to humanitarian and civilian sites in Gaza.
IDF International Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing Hamas terrorists in civilian clothes launching rockets from within tents near the humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis.
“Hamas terrorists continue to terrorize Israelis and endanger the Gazans around them,” Shoshani said.
“This is a video showing how Hamas terrorists, dressed in civilian clothing, launched two rockets towards central Israel today from a humanitarian area. Once again, Hamas is putting Gazan civilians at risk in an attempt to harm Israelis,” he concluded.
Later Wednesday, IDF soldiers dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure, sniper, and observation posts, with the IAF striking over 40 such targets through the Gaza Strip, including sites from which terrorists had fired anti-tank missiles.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi visited Rafah, telling his troops that every day Hamas continues to hold the Israeli hostages it will pay a price and be degraded further.
That said – even after 10 months – Halevi did not suggest any specific deadline or strategy for getting the hostages back beyond a potential deal, which he hopes will come about through ongoing IDF military pressure.
In the North, the IDF attacked Hezbollah in at least eight different rounds, somewhat of an increase over recent days, but still limited to southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired some rockets and an anti-tank missile in open areas in Israel without causing injuries or damage. There were no reports of large fires from the attacks.
It is unclear from Hezbollah’s overall reduced activity in the last week or so whether this is a ploy to try to lull Israel into complacency before a much larger attack or whether the group is secretly hoping for a ceasefire to avoid a larger conflict with the Jewish state.
Also, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, some 10,056 wounded soldiers and security organization members have been absorbed by the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department, the department said Wednesday.
The department predicted that by 2030, there would be 100,000 IDF disabled cared for by the department, 50% of whom would be facing mental health injuries.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report