Twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed in a single attack in Gaza yesterday, the army said, marking the biggest single Israeli loss since the war began. Three others were killed in separate fighting in the south, taking the total death toll to 24. Army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said the reservists were killed when a Hamas missile detonated explosives placed by the army, causing two buildings to collapse. The soldiers were rigging explosives and “blowing up buildings in the vicinity to enable the border to be rebuilt”, Admiral Hagari said.
