21 Israeli soldiers are killed in the deadliest single attack on the army since the war began

The Israeli army reported Tuesday that 21 soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip in the bloodiest strike on Israeli forces in the three-month-old conflict with the Islamist Hamas organisation.

On Monday, as reservists were preparing explosives to demolish two structures in central Gaza, a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby, according to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesperson. The detonation set off the explosives, forcing both two-story structures to fall on the soldiers within.

The high death toll might provide further impetus to calls for Israel to postpone or perhaps cancel the attack entirely. The high number of Israeli dead has put pressure on Israel’s leadership to discontinue previous military actions.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has threatened to keep going until Israel destroys the militant Hamas organisation that rules the region and frees the more than 100 captives that are being held captive in Gaza. There is a growing division among Israelis over the feasibility of achieving either goal.

Time is running out to send the hostages home alive, according to the families of the captives and many of their supporters, who have urged on Israel to negotiate a cease-fire agreement. Numerous families of hostages disrupted a parliamentary committee hearing on Monday, seeking an agreement to secure the release of their loved ones.

Following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 that resulted in over 1,200 deaths and 250 kidnappings, Israel went on the offensive. More than 100 were released in November in exchange for a weeklong cease-fire and the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The offensive has caused widespread destruction, displaced an estimated 85% of Gaza’s population and left over 25,000 Palestinians dead, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory. The United Nations and international aid agencies say the fighting has unleashed a humanitarian disaster, with a quarter of the area’s 2.3 million people facing starvation.