New details emerge on Gaza APC ambush

New details emerge on the deadly Hamas ambush in Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood in which six Israeli soldiers were killed and another went missing. Citing military sources, Channel 2 reports that the armored personnel carrier (APC) that was hit by an anti-tank missile early Sunday morning was not the one that was stuck in one of the neighborhood’s narrow streets, but the one sent into the neighborhood to evacuate soldiers out of the first vehicle.

The battle in Shejaiya began on Saturday night. During the early hours Sunday, the 1970s-model APC got stuck — apparently, in a pre-planned Hamas ambush. A second APC was sent in to evacuate soldiers out of the stalled vehicle, but Hamas operatives opened fire on it. An anti-tank missile penetrated the APC and exploded, causing immense damage.

The army has released the names of the six confirmed dead soldiers: Sgt. Max Steinberg, 24, originally from Los Angeles; First Sgt. Shahar Tase, 20, from Pardesiya; First Sgt. Daniel Pomerantz, 20, from Kfar Azar; Sgt. Shon Mondshein, 19, from Tel Aviv; Sgt. Ben Yitzhak Oanounou, 19, from Ashdod; and First Sgt. Oren Simcha Noach, 22, from Hoshaya. A seventh soldier, Oron Shaul, is missing in action; Hamas claim they have kidnapped him.