Israeli army says 1 more soldier killed, 2 seriously injured in southern Gaza battles

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army announced early Tuesday that one more reservist soldier was killed and two others were seriously injured in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

The slain soldier was identified by the Israeli army as Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitzan Schessler, 21, of the army's 55th Brigade's 7155th Battalion.

The Israeli army said in a statement that one soldier was seriously injured in the battle that killed Schessler, and another soldier from the Combat Engineering Corps' 603rd Battalion was seriously injured in a separate incident in southern Gaza.

It reported that 189 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground assault began on Oct. 27.

However, the Israeli army's overall death toll since the launch of the Israeli offensive against Gaza on Oct. 7 has risen to 523.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 24,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 60,834 others, according to local health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar