Hundreds of hornets attack IDF soldiers in southern Gaza, 10 hospitalized

"I have never seen a similar case of hundreds of bees attacking one person," said Dr. Avi Ironi, director of the Sheba Emergency Medical Center.

An Asian hornet, Latin name "Vespa Velutina", is seen in Vertou, near Nantes, France, September 10, 2018. (photo credit: STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS)
An Asian hornet, Latin name "Vespa Velutina", is seen in Vertou, near Nantes, France, September 10, 2018.
(photo credit: STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS)

The IDF announced on Friday afternoon that IDF soldiers had been attacked by hundreds of hornets in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Sheba Medical Center reported that ten soldiers had arrived at the hospital for treatment.

Several of them were transferred to the standard wards for treatment.

One soldier was transferred to intensive care.

 Aerial view of Sheba Tel HaShomer Medical Center, outside of Tel Aviv, on May 31, 2023. (credit: Omer Fichman/Flash90)
Aerial view of Sheba Tel HaShomer Medical Center, outside of Tel Aviv, on May 31, 2023. (credit: Omer Fichman/Flash90)

Extremely rare incident

Dr. Avi Ironi, director of the Sheba Emergency Medical Center: "Some of the fighters were stung by hundreds of bees and others by less."

"Some of them developed an allergic reaction to the large amount of stings they were exposed to. Intensive care, anesthesia, toxicological treatment, ophthalmologists, and everyone else are involved here."

"There are reports of cases that have gotten worse, so we intend to monitor them and see they are not getting any worse, and that there is no systemic damage. They will remain under observation to see that their condition stabilizes."

"I have never seen a similar case of hundreds of bees attacking one person. At the moment, there is no danger to anyone's life, and they are in the safest place possible."

Soldiers had been attacked by wild dogs in the early stages of the invasion, leading to a mass cull of dogs in the Gaza Strip to prevent the spread of disease and prevent the dogs from crossing into Israel and exposing Israeli dogs to rabies or other diseases.