Will Israeli troop losses force change in strategy?
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00:00 Twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed Monday by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in one
00:05 attack.
00:07 It was the deadliest single attack in Gaza since the Hamas raid into Israel started the
00:11 war October 7th.
00:13 Three more soldiers were also killed Monday, bringing the total to 24 dead in one day.
00:18 We're going to talk more about this now with France 24's Catherine Norris-Trent, who joins
00:22 me from the military cemetery in Jerusalem, where the funerals are taking place today.
00:27 Catherine, what more can you tell us?
00:29 Well, it's a very mournful scene, as you can imagine here, Jeannie, at the Mount Herzl
00:37 military ceremony in Jerusalem, where the funerals are taking place of some of those
00:43 Israeli soldiers killed in action inside Gaza yesterday.
00:48 In about an hour's time, we will have the funeral of a reservist aged just 25, who was
00:56 one of those killed, 21 killed in a single explosion, when a building that they had mined
01:03 in order to destroy collapsed.
01:05 Now, there are different reports about exactly what happened.
01:09 The military had said that Palestinian militants inside Gaza fired missiles at their tank.
01:16 That may have caused the explosion.
01:19 Other reports in Israeli media saying that it was a premature explosion of those explosive
01:24 devices put there by the Israeli army.
01:26 So now the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has called for an investigation.
01:32 But he's also said that the fight must go on until, quote, "complete victory."
01:38 But now, here at the military ceremony, the mood is very much of mourning, as it is elsewhere
01:42 in Israel.
01:43 People very much in shock.
01:45 This is the highest single daily death toll from the war in Gaza.
01:50 24 soldiers killed within one day, bringing the total of fallen Israeli soldiers to above
01:57 200.
01:58 So this is a day of mourning.
02:00 People are gathering here for a very solemn ceremony, and there'll be more taking place
02:04 throughout the day.
02:05 Catherine, what do we think the impact could be of these losses, so many soldiers in one
02:11 day on this war that keeps dragging on and on?
02:16 Well, the timing of this could also be very significant, because this big loss, which
02:21 is having a big psychological impact inside Israel, comes as we've seen growing anger
02:27 on the streets, notably from the families and loved ones of hostages held inside Gaza.
02:35 Two days ago, they-- or yesterday, excuse me, they stormed the Israeli parliament, the
02:39 Knesset.
02:40 There have been angry demonstrations outside residences of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
02:45 People calling on him to resign.
02:47 People calling for the war to stop immediately so that their loved ones can be brought home.
02:53 And people getting really angry now that 109 days into this war, there's no sign of it
02:58 yet ending.
02:59 And people-- an opinion poll just showed that a majority of Israelis would actually like
03:04 there to be a deal struck with Hamas in order to get the hostages brought home and in order
03:11 to see the end of this war.
03:13 And people are prepared to accept a prisoner swap.
03:17 So there are various deals in the way.
03:19 But Benjamin Netanyahu and his government very much under pressure over the direction
03:24 this war is taking and how long it will last.