At least four Israeli soldiers died and five others were wounded after an explosion rocked a building in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis on Friday.
The explosion occurred amid the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing offensive against the Hamas terror group.
Two of the slain soldiers are named as: Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross, 33, of the Maglan commando unit, from Gan Yoshiya, and Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, 19, of the Yahalom combat engineering unit, from Sde Warburg, reported The Times of Israel.
The IDF said the identities of the two other soldiers will be released later in the day.
In its initial probe, IDF found that the soldiers had entered the building to clear it of possible terror infrastructure.
The building was booby-trapped and the explosion caused the structure to collapse on the soldiers, killing the soldiers and wounding the others, including one seriously, the newspaper reported.
The incident occurred in the Khan Younis suburb of Bani Suheila.
In a separate incident, a reservist with the 646th Paratroopers Brigade was moderately wounded by a mortar impact in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighbourhood, the army told the newspaper.
He was shifted to a hospital, and his condition is said to be stable.
After the deaths of four soldiers, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said sometimes there’s “no choice” but to enter structures in the Strip to investigate them for possible tunnels.
“To do this, without being harmed by an explosive, we carry out a variety of methods. We will investigate this incident,” Defrin said in response to a question at a press conference as quoted by The Times of Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to the incident
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the incident and described it a “sad and difficult day.”
“Our four fighters gave their lives for all of our security,” he said in a statement as quoted by the newspaper.
“The entire people of Israel embrace the dear families in their heavy grief,” he said.
