UPDATE - Israeli army says 2 soldiers killed in Gaza Strip

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, REVISES DECK, ADDS CHANGES

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Two Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip, the army said on Sunday.

A military statement said the two soldiers, from the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, were killed in the southern Gaza Strip.

It, however, did not provide details about the circumstances of their death.

An officer and two other soldiers in the unit were also seriously injured.

According to military figures, at least 579 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,962 others injured in the Gaza conflict since Oct. 7. The fatalities include 240 soldiers who had been killed since Israel expanded its ground operation in the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 27.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing more than 29,690 Palestinians, injuring nearly 70,000 and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi