An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed during fighting on Thursday in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, where the military said troops were continuing to operate against Hamas in close-quarters combat,
The Times of Israel reports.
The IDF said troops were engaged in battling Hamas gunmen in the north, south and center of the Strip, as residents of Gaza said they were still seeking a safe place to shelter following evacuation orders distributed in Khan Younis earlier this week.
The IDF identified the soldier who was killed on Thursday as Staff Sgt. Eyal Mimran, 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion, from Ness Ziona.
His death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 325.
Separately, a reservist with the Alexandroni Brigade was seriously wounded in central Gaza, the IDF added.
Earlier Thursday, the IDF announced the deaths of two IDF soldiers a day earlier in fighting in northern Gaza; separately a soldier was killed Thursday in a Hezbollah attack on the Golan Heights.
Rocket sirens rang out twice in the evacuated border community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Thursday morning. Local authorities said two rockets were fired at the kibbutz from Gaza and fell in open areas without causing any injuries.
The IDF said Thursday morning that Israeli fighter jets and drones struck more than 50 sites belonging to terror groups in the Gaza Strip over the past day.