Two IDF soldiers killed in southern Gaza

On Saturday night, an Israeli soldier wounded in Gaza last week died of his injuries.

By JNS

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday morning that two Israeli soldiers had been killed in combat in the southern Gaza Strip.

The soldiers were identified as Capt. Amir Saad, 22, a technology and maintenance officer in the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat in the Western Galilee, and Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, a Golani Reconnaissance Battalion technology and maintenance soldier from Kiryat Tivon, near Haifa.

The two men were killed by an explosive device, according to Ynet. Another soldier was said to have been moderately wounded.

On Saturday night, an Israeli soldier wounded in Gaza last week died of his injuries.

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, 32, of the 749th Combat Engineering Battalion, was critically wounded on July 19 when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Khan Yunis.

“Together with all the people of Israel, we mourn the fall in battle in Gaza of our heroic soldiers: Capt. Amir Saad, of blessed memory, and Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, of blessed memory, fighters of the Golani Brigade, and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, of blessed memory, a combat engineering soldier who succumbed to his wounds after being injured in battle,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.

“My wife and I send our condolences to the dear families, and on behalf of the entire nation, we embrace them in their time of deep sorrow,” he continued. “We also pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

“Our brave soldiers risked their lives in the campaign to defeat the Hamas murderers and for the sacred mission of rescuing our hostages. We will not relent in these missions until victory is achieved,” added Netanyahu.

On Tuesday, the IDF announced the death in southern Gaza of Sgt. Maj. (res.) Vladimir Loza, 39, from the 5th Brigade’s 7020th Battalion.

A day earlier, the military confirmed that Staff Sgt. Amit Cohen, 19, from the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, had been killed when Israeli munitions exploded inside a building in Khan Yunis.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27, 2023, stands at 454, and at 898 on all fronts since the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, according to official IDF data.

The IDF is continuing to press ahead with ground operations across Gaza as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign to dismantle Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, take control of key areas in the Strip and secure the release of the 50 remaining captives the terrorist group is holding.