IDF soldier KIA in Gaza, bringing military death toll to 681

Israeli forces also remain active in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, over the past day killing dozens of terrorists and dismantling underground tunnel routes.

By JNS

An Israeli soldier was killed on Tuesday during battles against Palestinian terrorists in the central Gaza Strip, the military announced on Wednesday morning.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class Tal Lahat, 21, of the Maglan commando unit, from Kfar Saba.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27 now stands at 325, and at 681 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, according to official military data.

Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded last month during a mission to rescue four hostages, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in May.

Meanwhile, the IDF is continuing to press its offensive against Hamas in Gaza City and across the coastal enclave.

The military said on Wednesday that troops had raided the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City’s upscale Rimal neighborhood, which it said Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were using as a base to conduct attacks on Israeli soldiers in the central Strip.

“After a defined corridor was opened to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from the area, IDF troops conducted a targeted raid on the structure, eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat, and located large amounts of weapons in the area,” the army said.

Israeli forces also remain active in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, over the past day killing dozens of terrorists and dismantling underground tunnel routes.

Troops are also conducting counterterror operations in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, which began overnight Sunday based on intelligence indicating that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are attempting to regroup there.

Israeli forces killed dozens of terrorists and found many weapons.

Israeli forces also continue to clear the Rafah area of Hamas fighters, over the past day killing many terrorists, locating weapons and dismantling terrorists infrastructure in the area.

Since the start of the operation in Rafah in early May, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 terrorists during battles in the last Hamas stronghold, according to data compiled by the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

The Israeli military also remains active in central Gaza, with the Israeli Air Force striking several Hamas terrorists who took part in the underground tunnels and anti-tank missile units.