1 more Israeli soldier killed in battle in northern Gaza Strip

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Sunday announced that another soldier was killed in fighting with Palestinian groups in the northern Gaza Strip.

The slain soldier was Sgt. Lior Raviv (21), who was killed in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said in a statement.

The latest fatality brought the death toll of Israeli soldiers since Oct. 7 to 596, including 252 officers and soldiers who were killed during the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 27.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’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 is 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