At least nine Israeli soldiers died in Gaza on Monday, in one of the highest daily tolls since Israel began its war on Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Six of the soldiers appeared to have died in an explosion in a Hamas tunnel that housed parts of an arms factory, a reporter for the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported.
Reporter Ron Ben Yishai said the tunnel reeked of ammonia and explosive chemicals and said “any spark” could ignite it.
Ben Yishai was part of a group of reporters invited to tour the tunnel just hours before it exploded.
“From a side room, stairs lead down to the factory, where Hamas produced propellant explosives for its long-range rockets,” Ben Yishai reported after visiting the underground network.
“The brigadier went down the stairs, and we followed him. A strong smell of ammonia and other chemicals hit our noses. I felt a burning in my eyes.”
“Fearing for our safety, we did not go deeper into the explosives production tunnel and contented ourselves with a peek inside. The reason is not only a fear of breathing poisoning but because these vapors are explosive. Any spark could produce an explosion, as it sometimes does,” he wrote.
A report in the newspaper Haaretz said the explosion happened after an IDF ammunition truck was brought to destroy the tunnel, which was uncovered in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Idan Amedi, a well-known Israeli actor who featured in the popular Netflix series Fauda, was badly wounded in the same explosion.
He was serving as a real-life IDF reservist in the Combat Engineering Corps when he was injured.
Amedi was brought to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan at about 4 pm on Monday and underwent urgent, serious, and lengthy surgery, according to Israeli media.
Shortly before he was wounded, Amedi was interviewed in Gaza by an Israeli television reporter, and said he was “a little tired, but fine.”
Turning to the camera, Amedi said, “We are working hard for everyone’s security. We really love you.”
The explosion that injured him and killed six of his colleagues happened shortly thereafter.