By Abdul Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - One more Israeli army officer was killed in clashes with Palestinian resistance groups in northern Gaza, the Israeli army said on Friday, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since Oct. 7 to 502.
“Captain Harel Sharvit, 33, in the army's 7008th Battalion, was killed in a battle in northern Gaza Strip,” an army statement said.
An officer and a soldier from the College of Military Engineering were also “seriously” injured in separate battles in the northern Gaza Strip, the army added.
The latest fatality brought the death toll of Israeli soldiers since Oct. 7 to 502, including 168 officers and soldiers who were killed during the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 27.
Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21,320 Palestinians and injuring 55,603, according to local health authorities.
Authorities claim the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.