Tal al-Sultan Ambush

The Tel al-Sultan ambush occurred on 15 June 2024, when members of the armed wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, ambushed an Israeli convoy near the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, west of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Tel al-Sultan ambush
Part of the Rafah offensive during the Gaza war
A Namer APC and a Merkava tank of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion during an exercise in January 2023
Date 15 June 2024 Location Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza Strip Result Hamas victory
Belligerents
Hamas	Israel
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Wassem Mahmoud †
Units involved
Al-Qassam Brigades	Israel Defense Forces 601st Battalion
Casualties and losses
None	8 soldiers killed 1 Namer destroyed 1 D9 armored bulldozer destroyed

Background

Main article: Rafah offensive

On 6 May, Israeli forces launched a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah. Before and during the initial phase of the operation, Israeli forces conducted at least 50 airstrikes targeting the area.^[1]

On 26 May, an Israeli airstrike in Rafah resulted in the deaths of 45 Palestinians. According to Israeli authorities, the strike targeted a Hamas installation. The attack triggered a fire in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, where dozens of refugees were sheltered.^[2][3]

Ambush

At around 05:15 local time, during an overnight offensive in Tal al-Sultan, a Namer armored personnel carrier, which had been involved in the operation, was returning with the rest of the force to captured buildings to allow troops to rest.^[4][5] Hamas first targeted a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 anti-armor missile, setting it on fire and causing injuries and fatalities among its crew.^[6][7] Following this, Hamas fired another Al-Yassin 105 missile at the Namer,^[8] which was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy. Initially, it was believed that the Namer may have hit a land mine or that an explosive device had been placed on it.^[9][10][11] The Namer was ultimately destroyed by the missile, and its crew was killed. It burned for about two hours after the ambush,^[12] before being towed to a safe location.^[13]