Seven soldiers KIA in Gaza, bringing IDF wartime toll to 878

Seven Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed on Tuesday when their armored vehicle was struck by an explosive, the military confirmed on Wednesday morning.

The soldiers were identified as Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, 21, from Kfar Yona; Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, from Rehovot; Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, 20, from Elyakhin; Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, 19, from Mazkeret Batya; Sgt. Shahar Manoav, 21, from Ashkelon; Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, 20, from Eshhar; and Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov, 21, from Kiryat Yam.

They all served in the IDF’s 605th Combat Engineering Battalion.

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin elaborated on the incident during a Wednesday afternoon press briefing, stating that during operational activity in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza, “an explosive device was attached to an armored Puma vehicle belonging to the brigade’s forces.”

Defrin continued: “As a result, the armored vehicle caught fire. Rescue forces and helicopters were dispatched to the scene and attempted to extract the soldiers, but were unsuccessful.”

He added that the “complex incident” is still under review and that the findings will be presented to the families and, subsequently, to the public once the review is complete.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a “very difficult day for the people of Israel,” expressing his and his wife Sara Netanyahu’s sorrow over the deaths.

“Our heroic fighters fell in battle to defeat Hamas and to free our hostages in the southern Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu stated.

“On my own behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel, I send my deepest condolences to the families who have lost what is most precious to them, and I share in their unbearable sorrow at this difficult time,” the premier continued. “May the memory of our fighters be blessed and preserved forever.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called news “a very painful morning,” saying, “We bow our heads and embrace the families of the slain soldiers.”

“We are all with you—in sorrow, in embrace, and in tears. We pray for the recovery of the wounded soldiers and offer strength to all IDF soldiers and their commanders, who bear on their shoulders the defense of all our lives,” Herzog concluded.

Last week, the IDF announced the deaths of two additional soldiers in Gaza.

IDF Staff Sgt. Stav Halfon, 20, from Petach Tikvah, was reportedly killed by sniper fire in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Staff Sgt. Naveh Leshem, 20, was also killed in the southern Strip.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27, 2023, stands at 434, and at 878 on all fronts since the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, per official military figures.

The IDF is continuing to press ahead with ground operations across Gaza as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign with the stated goal of dismantling Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, taking control of key areas in Gaza and securing the release of the remaining 53 captives.