Gaza, Jul 10 (IANS): Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), claimed that its fighters killed several Israeli soldiers in various sites in the Gaza Strip.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters targeted an Israeli force fortified inside a house in the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood with a shell and directly clashed with them face to face.

As more Israeli troops were sent to the site to evacuate the casualties, the Hamas fighters fired an anti-personnel explosive device at them, reports Xinhua news agency, citing the statement.

In the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in the southwest of Gaza City, Hamas fighters managed to target another Israeli force fortified inside a house with a shell, killing and wounding several Israeli soldiers, the al-Qassam Brigades said in the statement.

An Israeli soldier was directly hit by a Hamas sniper in the industrial area of the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, according to the statement.

Hamas fighters detonated an anti-personnel explosive device at a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the Riyadh Tower in the western Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, causing several deaths and injuries, the statement said.

They also managed to detonate an anti-personnel explosive device near an Israeli foot patrol consisting of six soldiers in the south of the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, causing deaths and injuries, it added.

So far, there has been no comment on the Hamas reports from the Israeli military.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.

The Hamas-run health authorities said the total Palestinian death toll in Gaza as of Tuesday has climbed to 38,243 since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.