Special Report: Official Data Highlights the Severity of Israeli Army Losses in Gaza This Month

Official data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, reviewed by the Sunna Files Website shows that Israeli hospitals received the highest number of injuries in the past two months, coinciding with the Israeli army’s battles in Rafah and Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. These battles began on May 7, 2024, and continued until May 20, 2024.

This significant increase in injuries in May 2024 also coincides with the highest number of fatalities among Israeli soldiers over the past two months, according to the army’s casualty database since the war on Gaza began.

The official numbers indicating a rise in injuries between May 7 and May 20, 2024, align with the Israeli army’s official acknowledgment of numerous soldier injuries during this period.

The Israeli Ministry of Health has created a database for the injured admitted to hospitals during the “Iron Swords War,” Israel’s term for the conflict in Gaza. This database does not clearly differentiate between civilian and military injuries due to Israeli military censorship on information about army casualties, as Israeli reports suggest the army deliberately conceals the true numbers to maintain public morale.

Despite this, the number of injuries recorded in the Ministry of Health’s database for specific time periods provides indicators regarding military casualties, especially when comparing injury rates with the timeline of new military operations in the region.

Hundreds of injuries since the battles in Rafah and Jabalia

According to official data, Israeli civilian hospitals received 356 injuries from May 7, 2024, to May 20, 2024, averaging 25.4 injuries per day.

This rate (from May 7 to May 20, 2024) exceeds the number of injuries admitted to Israeli hospitals for the entire month of April 2024, which saw 416 injuries, averaging 13.8 injuries per day.

In March 2024, Israeli hospitals admitted 482 injuries, with a daily average of 15.5 injuries.

The Israeli army began its ground incursion in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza on May 7, 2024. On May 11, 2024, it launched another ground assault on Jabalia in northern Gaza and later announced the expansion of operations in the Jabalia camp, with clashes continuing until May 21, 2024.

According to official Israeli figures, there was a noticeable rise in hospital admissions coinciding with the attack on Jabalia, with 170 injuries recorded between May 11, 2024, and May 15, 2024, averaging 34 injuries per day.

On May 15, 2024, the Israeli army reported that “50 soldiers were injured in the past 24 hours in Gaza.” In mid-May, Israeli media reported that hospitals were dealing with large numbers of wounded and dead soldiers from the battles in the Gaza Strip.

Injured soldiers have been admitted to 26 hospitals and medical centers across northern, southern, and central Israel, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

The ministry’s database indicates that hospitals closest to Gaza have received the most injuries, due to their proximity to the border settlements that were attacked and the ongoing battles in Gaza. Injured soldiers are primarily evacuated to these hospitals due to the critical importance of rapid medical intervention.

Numerous resistance operations and high soldier fatality rates

The Israeli assault on Rafah and Jabalia faced extensive resistance from Palestinian factions in these areas, coupled with rocket attacks by the resistance on several occupied territories near Gaza, including Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Beersheba.

Between May 7, 2024, and May 21, 2024, 17 Israeli soldiers were killed, 16 in Gaza, and one on the northern front. From the beginning of May until May 21, 2024, the soldier death toll reached 23.

This is the highest death toll in the past two months, with 8 soldiers killed in April 2024 and 16 in March 2024.

Palestinian resistance factions announced several significant operations against Israeli soldiers since the attacks on Rafah and Jabalia began. For example, the Al-Qassam Brigades in 2024 reported repeatedly bombing Israeli forces at the Rafah crossing with “Rajum” rockets and mortar shells, as well as targeting the Kerem Shalom crossing.

On May 10, 2024, Al-Qassam announced a complex attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, targeting a building sheltering soldiers, an armored personnel carrier, and a group of soldiers on foot, claiming all were killed or injured.

Al-Qassam also reported trapping an Israeli force in a pre-planned minefield in the Saad Sayel barracks east of Rafah, causing casualties among the soldiers.

In Jabalia, Palestinian factions announced extensive targeting of Israeli soldiers, including a May 12, 2024, report by Al-Qassam of targeting a Merkava tank, detonating an explosive device on special Israeli forces, and carrying out a complex operation where a Merkava tank was targeted, and a booby-trapped house exploded, resulting in multiple casualties.

According to the official Israeli army website, 613 Israeli soldiers and officers have been killed since the war on Gaza began. The Ministry of Health’s data indicates that 15,663 injuries have been admitted to civilian hospitals since the war’s inception.

The Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has resulted in at least 115,000 casualties, including martyrs and injured, most of whom are children and women, with around 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine causing the deaths of children and the elderly.