UPDATES DEATH TOLL
By Abdel Rauf Arnaut
JERUSALEM (AA) – Two more Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, bringing the death toll in the Israeli ground operation in the blockaded enclave to 33 since Oct. 27, the army said.
A military statement said a soldier from the Artillery Corps was killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. Two more soldiers were seriously injured.
Another soldier from the Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit was also killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said.
Israel said 33 soldiers have been killed and 260 others injured since it began expanded ground operations in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27.
At least 10,569 Palestinians, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, have been killed in Israeli air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.
Besides the large number of casualties and massive displacements, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.
*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara