The Israeli army has confirmed that one of its soldiers - thought to have been killed two days ago in Gaza - has still not been found or identified.

In a statement, the military said: “The identification process of six of the soldiers killed has been completed and confirmed. The efforts to identify the seventh soldier are ongoing and have yet to be determined.”

According to Israel, the missing soldier was killed during the battle between Israeli ground forces and Hamas in the eastern district of Shejaiya.

However, Hamas says that it has kidnapped the soldier and he remains in their custody.

Up until now the army could not confirm that a soldier was missing.

Motti Almoz one of the IDF’s chief spokesmen told Israeli Radio that the military was “clarifying the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

The two week long crisis in Gaza has so far claimed the lives of 575 Palestinians, and 27 soldiers on the Israeli side with two Israeli civilians killed by rocket and mortar attacks.