Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Soldier KIA in Gaza, bringing IDF wartime toll to 881

The slain soldier was named as Sgt. Yaniv Michalovitch, 19, from Rehovot.

Sgt. Yaniv Michalovitch, 19, was killed in action in the Gaza Strip, July 2, 2025. Credit: IDF.
Sgt. Yaniv Michalovitch, 19, was killed in action in the Gaza Strip, July 2, 2025. Credit: IDF.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in combat with Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Wednesday.

The fallen soldier was identified as Sgt. Yaniv Michalovitch, 19, from Rehovot, who served in the 82nd Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade.

According to the IDF, a tank commander and another soldier were seriously wounded in the same incident. They were evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment, and their families have been notified.

On Sunday, the military announced that Sgt. Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, was killed in action in northern Gaza. Last week, seven IDF troops were killed when their armored vehicle was struck by an explosive in the Strip. The same day, an Israeli soldier was killed by an Iranian missile launched at the Jewish state.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27, 2023, stands at 437, and at 881 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 “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 50 captives.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republican of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as president of the United States of America, canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” the president said.
Michael and David Shabsels, who operate 30 camps across four states, reported up to $1 billion in liabilities as a New Jersey court approved continued access to funds to keep camps operating.
“Sports should bring communities together, not celebrate martyrdom,” Regina Sassoon Friedland of the American Jewish Committee told JNS about the Fedayeen Football League.
A U.S. diplomat told the U.N. Security Council that Iran’s regime is holding “the world’s economy hostage by unlawfully attempting to restrict freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
“We don’t just celebrate the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people but to all the faiths that call Jerusalem home,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
“As we have seen time and again, it is a party that still contains both camps and did not settle the argument,” Jared Sclar, a Democratic political consultant, told JNS.