Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday lamented a “very difficult day” following the deaths of seven Israeli soldiers in one of the deadliest incidents for Israel in over 20 months of war in Gaza.
“This is a very difficult day for the people of Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “Our heroic fighters fell in battle to defeat Hamas and free our hostages in southern Gaza.”
According to the Israeli army, the seven soldiers, aged 19 to 21, were members of the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion of the 188th Brigade and were killed Tuesday while operating in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
“Yesterday afternoon, during an operation, an explosive device was attached to a Puma armored vehicle belonging to the brigade,” said military spokesperson Effie Defrin during a press briefing.
“The armored vehicle caught fire. Rescue forces and helicopters were dispatched to the scene and attempted to extract the soldiers, but to no avail.”
The combat engineers were reportedly on a reconnaissance mission at the time, and the incident is still under investigation, according to the military.
Another soldier from the same unit was injured Tuesday in a separate incident in Gaza, the army added.
More than 440 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war in Gaza began.
More than 56,077 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.
AFP
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