UPDATE - 2 Israeli soldiers wounded in southern Gaza in separate incidents

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Ahmed Asmar

JERUSALEM /

The Israeli army on Friday reported two of its soldiers wounded in separate incidents in the southern Gaza Strip.

A military statement said one of its soldiers was "seriously wounded" in the southern Gaza Strip, and was taken to hospital.

While the statement did not specify the reason for his injury, the Times of Israel reported that he was wounded "due to an accidental misfire."

Separately, the Israeli army also said another soldier was "moderately wounded" during an exchange of fire with Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip.

The army claimed to have killed three armed Palestinians during the incident.

The Palestinian side has yet to comment on the Israeli claim.

The reported Israeli casualties in Gaza are the first since the army resumed its attacks on the Palestinian enclave last month.

The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering the Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

Nearly 51,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. The military campaign has left the enclave in ruins and rendered it almost uninhabitable.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.