Israeli army says 2 more soldiers killed in Gaza battles

By Anadolu Staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday said two more soldiers were killed in battles with Palestinian resistance groups in the southern Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours.

The Israeli army spokesman said that the slain were sergeants.

The death toll of the Israeli army since the start of the ground operation in the besieged enclave on Oct. 27 has risen to 235, while the total number of Israeli troops killed since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7 reached 572.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attack had killed at least 28,663 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

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, which in 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​​​​​​​