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Four IDF soldiers killed during Jabalia operation

Their deaths raise the total military casualty toll on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023 to 787.

IDF in Rafah, Gaza Strip
Soldiers from the IDF’s Nahal Infantry Brigade during operations in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, November 2024. Credit: IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday morning released the names of four soldiers killed in action in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The troops, from the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion 92, were identified as Staff Sgt. Orr Katz, 20, from Ma’ale Adumim; Staff Sgt. Nave Yair Asulin, 21, from Carmit; Staff Sgt. Gary Lalhruaikima Zolat, 21, from Afula; and Staff Sgt. Ofir Eliyahu, 20, from Holon.

Their deaths raise the IDF’s death toll on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, to 787, of which 373 have fallen since the start of ground operations in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, 2023.

On Monday, the IDF released the name of a reservist killed in action in northern Gaza.

IDF Maj. (res.) Itamar Levin Fridman, 34, from Eilat, served as a commander in his home town’s Lotar counter-terrorism unit, a special forces team whose mission is to protect the safety of residents and tourists in southern Israel and which specializes in the rescue of hostages.

Fridman was killed by an anti-tank missile.

The military launched a major operation in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia in early October, following indications of a Hamas resurgence there.

One thousand Hamas terrorists have been killed and another thousand captured in Jabalia over the past three weeks, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Nov. 8.

Speaking during a situational assessment in the northern Gaza city, Halevi said it was a “significant achievement that deals Hamas a severe blow.”

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