Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on May 16 that a reservist was killed in an “operational accident” on the border with the Gaza Strip.
The soldier, who was serving in the Bislamach Brigade’s 6828th Battalion, was killed in a blast caused by Israeli munitions in a military zone near the Black Arrow memorial site, hundreds of meters inside Israel, the IDF said in a statement.
Four other soldiers were lightly injured in the accident, according to the IDF, which noted that an investigation was launched.
The deaths brought the toll of slain troops in the IDF ground offensive against the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in Gaza and in operations on the border to 279. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor was also killed in Gaza earlier this week.
The IDF intensified operations in different parts of Gaza in recent days. Israeli troops pushed deep into the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern part of the Strip on May 16, facing rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells fired by Palestinian fighters.
Many of the fighters in Jabaliya were killed, the IDF said, without providing any more details on the ongoing ground operation there.
In the southern Gaza area of Rafah, where residents reported heavy Israeli bombardments, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that more troops would be deployed there.
“This operation will continue with additional forces that will enter [the area]. Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our forces and more tunnels will be destroyed soon,” Gallant said in remarks provided by his office.
Hamas and other factions have been shelling Israeli troops in the Rafah direction. Nevertheless, clashes remain limited there.
It’s worth noting that the Israeli war on Gaza has so far claimed the lives of 35,272 Palestinians and left more than 79,205 others wounded, according to the latest update by the Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip. Most of the victims were women and children.
In addition to the high number of casualties, the Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the Strip’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
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