By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Wednesday announced that one more soldier was killed in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the central Gaza Strip.
The military statement identified the slain soldier as Sgt. First Class Tal Lahat, 21, who was serving in the army's Maglan commando unit.
The soldier's death brought the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27 to 325, while the army's total fatalities since the launch of Israel's onslaught against Gaza on Oct. 7 jumped to 681.
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 Hamas.
Nearly 38,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nine 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 in Ankara