Another Israeli soldier killed in Gaza fighting

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Another Israeli soldier was killed and 11 others were injured in the ongoing fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel’s army said on Friday.

In a statement, the army said with the latest death on Thursday, the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 has jumped to 557, including 220 soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation on Oct. 27.

The army reported that 11 soldiers were injured in ground battles in the Gaza Strip within the last 24 hours.

The total number of soldiers and officers wounded since the beginning of the ground operation on Oct. 27 has risen to 1,268, an increase from 1,258 reported yesterday.

The army data indicates that 258 individuals sustained serious injuries, 427 suffered moderate injuries, and 584 had minor injuries.

The overall number of soldiers and officers wounded since the start of the war on Oct. 7 now stands at 2,757.

Out of this total, 418 have sustained serious injuries, 723 moderate injuries, and 1,616 minor injuries.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 26,083 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 64,487 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi