UPDATE - Israeli soldier killed in fighting in Gaza: Army

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By Betul Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Israeli soldier was killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, the army said Sunday.

The soldier, from the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion under the 401st Brigade, was killed in northern Gaza, the military said in a statement.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said the soldier was killed by an explosive device during operations in the Kafr Jabalia area.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of June, making it the deadliest month for Israeli forces in the enclave since the beginning of 2025.

According to official Israeli army figures, 880 soldiers have been killed and 5,844 injured in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 56,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

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 crimes against civilians in the enclave.