Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed on Monday while battling Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, the military announced.
One of the soldiers was named as Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Eli in West Bank.
The other was identified on Tuesday as Maj. Dvir Zion Revah, 28, from Jerusalem.
Maj. Revah had been a company commander in the same battalion.
Two additional troops were seriously wounded in the same incident, according to the IDF.
Reports suggest that the unit was targeted by an anti-tank guided missile while operating in the Beit Hanoun area.
A third soldier from the 932nd, Staff Sergeant Ido Samiach, was killed on Tuesday in the same neighbourhood during a separate clash, the IDF confirmed.
Another soldier was wounded alongside Ssg. Samiach during an operation for the brigade’s elite reconnaissance unit
That brought the death toll in that battalion alone to three in just 24 hours.
The total count among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on October 27, 2023, stands at 396.
That number has risen to 828 across all fronts since the Hamas-led massacre on October 7 of the same year.
Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Israel Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded there in May.
Meanwhile, on Monday the IDF announced that it had “sharpened” its instructions to troops after a World Food Programme convoy came under Israeli fire.
The UN-run aid organisation said that three of its vehicles were struck by bullets “despite having received all of the necessary clearances from Israeli authorities”.
An IDF spokesperson told the Times of Israel: “The incident was investigated, instructions were sharpened, and lessons will be drawn from the investigation.
“The IDF continues to act in a targeted manner against terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and does everything in its power to prevent harm to uninvolved [civilians], and through COGAT will continue to work to enable and facilitate humanitarian assistance to residents of the Gaza Strip.”
