2 soldiers killed fighting in Gaza

The total number of Israeli troops that have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza is 318.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

On Saturday night, the names of two soldiers who were killed fighting in Gaza were publicized.

The two fallen soldiers are Staff Sgt. Yair Avitan, 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion, from Ra’anana and Sgt. First Class (res.) Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum, 21, of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, from Ma’ale Adumim.

They were killed in two separate incidents in Gaza City’s Shejaiya.

The total number of Israeli troops that have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza is 318.

The IDF warned residents to clear the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City ahead of renewed strikes in the area on Thursday.

“You are in a dangerous combat zone,” the Israel Defense Forces wrote sent a written warning in Arabic to residents in Shejaiya.

“The IDF will act forcefully against terrorist organizations in your areas,” the message said, telling people to “evacuate immediately south on Salah al-Din Road.”

The IDF renewed activity in the region after intense operations late last year.

In the meantime, the IDF last week reported that it was on track to dismantle the last Hamas brigade in Rafah.

According to IDF data, Hamas’s final brigade will be dismantled in Rafah in a matter of weeks.

The deactivation of the last Hamas brigade will mark a successful completion of one of Israel’s main goals of the war that began when Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7th, massacred residents, and took 250 hostages.

Meanwhile, Hamas can no longer smuggle weapons and ammunition from Egypt’s Sinai into Gaza via the cross-border tunnels.

The IDF has eliminated over 500 terrorists in Rafah and has also discovered extensive tunnel networks under the city and under the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Two of the tunnels destroyed by Israeli forces exceeded a kilometer in length.

gaza warIDF casualtiesShejaiya.