By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) – Four Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip amid an ongoing military offensive in the area, the army said on Tuesday.
A military statement said that the slain soldiers were members of the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion.
Their death brought the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip since last year to 787, according to military figures.
The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping amid a suffocating siege on the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
More than 1,500 people have been killed in northern Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Health Ministry.
The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Over 43,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 103,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.