ALBAWABA – Israeli damages from the surprise Gaza attack launched Saturday, dubbed the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, amounted to billions in under 24 hours, with hundreds of millions more incurred by Tuesday from the confirmed death of at least 124 occupation soldiers and the suspension of gas production in the Tamar field.
Thousands of Iron Dome interceptors were deployed to knock down Palestinian rockets inbound from the once-besieged enclave, multiple Israeli tanks and machinery were destroyed, and dozens of occupation soldiers were killed in the Hamas-led offensive.
Israeli damages from the surprise Gaza attack top $1.5b in military personnel alone: Al-Aqsa Flood operation
Times of Israel has confirmed, citing official Israeli sources, the death of 124 Israeli soldiers, as of midday Tuesday.
At a minimum cost of $12.5 million to equip and train one soldier, adjusted for inflation from 2017, the estimated damages resulting from the death of occupation soldiers total at least $1.55 billion.
More were killed and injured on Monday, AlJazeera reported, but the exact figures have yet to be announced and many are in critical condition.
Another round of rockets add to Israeli damages from the surprise Gaza attack: Al-Aqsa Flood operation
By end of day, Sunday, the Israeli dome system had launched a minimum of 8,800 interceptors just to take down 4,000, out of the total of 5,000 claimed by Hamas. At $61,000 a piece, the interception on day one cost the Israelis no less than half a billion dollars on day one of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation.
Al-Aqsa Flood operation incurred billions in Israeli damages from surprise Gaza attack - (Photo by EYAD BABA / AFP)
Less than 24 hours later, countless rockets were launched from Gaza, in response to Israeli raids in the besieged strip, which have killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinians, including at least 91 children.
The exact number of rockets launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military branch, was not disclosed, but the group said multiple batches were launched, each comprising at least a dozen rockets.
Needless to say, intercepting them will definitely put a dent in the Israeli ‘defence’ bill, on top of the half a billion already spent on the Sunday rocket show.
So far, at least five Merkava 4 tanks were destroyed, amounting to $17.5 million in losses, not including the costs of other machinery and equipment lost to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation.
Disruption of gas exports deepens Israeli damages from the surprise Gaza attack: Al-Aqsa Flood operation
Israeli authorities announced the suspension of works in one of the most important natural gas fields on the coast of occupied Palestine on Monday, according to Bloomberg, out of fear of being targeted by resistance groups.
The Tamar gas facility, run by American company Chevron, produces about 7.1 to 8.5 million cubic meters per day of natural gas, according to the company’s website.
In general, Europe depends at least partially on gas supplied by the Israelis, especially after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. And according to Bloomberg, natural gas prices rose about 14 percent as of Monday evening.
Al-Aqsa Flood operation incurred billions in Israeli damages from surprise Gaza attack and hundreds of millions more after Israeli gas exports to Egypt dropped 20% (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Another indicator is the fact that Israeli gas exports to Egypt decreased by 20 percent as a result of the Tamar facility closure, according to sources unnamed by Bloomberg.
In 2022, Egypt imported a record 6.27 billion cubic meters of Israeli gas, according to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI), about 17.2 million cubic meters per day.
A decline in Israeli gas exports to Egypt by 20 percent, or 3.4 million cubic meters per day, translates to more than $170 million per day in Israeli more Israeli damages. Noting that gas prices hit $5,000 per thousand cubic meters this morning, Tuesday, according to TASS news agency.
Accordingly, in just two days, shutting down the Tamar gas facility cost the Israeli economy around $340 million, and the costs pile on.
Financial losses in the Tel Aviv stock exchange exceeded $20 billion on Sunday alone, while the Israeli shekel remained at the lowest levels seen in years.
In addition to the commercial, infrastructural and political damages incurred by the Israeli occupation authorities so far, it is impossible to assess at this point the actual costs of Hamas’ operation. But it is safe to assume that billions will further accumulate as the Israeli occupation forces prepare for battle.
