Israeli army announces 2 more soldiers killed in fighting in central Gaza

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The Israeli army on Tuesday announced that two more of its soldiers were killed in overnight fighting in the central Gaza Strip.

The two slain soldiers were identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Nadav Elchanan Knoller, 30, and Maj. (res.) Eyal Avnion, 25, both of them serving in the army's 8th Reserve Armored Brigade's 121st Battalion.

A statement added that two other soldiers were seriously wounded, one in the same incident in central Gaza, and another from an anti-tank missile in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip.

The deaths bring the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27 to 322, while the army's total deaths since the launch of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza on Oct. 7 climbed to 674.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar