UPDATE - Israeli army reports death of 2 soldiers in Gaza

UPDATES WITH 1 MORE KILLED; REVISES HEADALINE, DECK, LEDE

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday confirmed the death of two of its soldiers in Gaza, taking the number of military personnel killed to 882 since the start of its war on the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 7, 2023.

In a statement, the army identified the personnel as Sergeant Yair Eliyahu, who was killed in a battle in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.

The military later said Asaf Zamir, a 19-year-old, who served as a soldier in the 53rd Armored Corps Battalion, 188th Brigade, was also killed by an anti-tank missile strike in Khan Younis.

Two other soldiers were seriously wounded in the incident, and another was moderately injured, the army said.

According to official Israeli figures, as many as 439 military personnel were killed during ground assaults which began on Oct. 27, 2023.

In total, 6,032 soldiers have been wounded since the start of the war, including 2,745 during the ground invasion of Gaza.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.

The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave, and led to food shortages and spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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.