Four Israeli army soldiers were killed and six were injured during fighting against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip this morning, the IDF announced Saturday evening, bringing the Israeli death toll in ground offensive against Hamas at 402.
The fallen soldiers are:
Sergeant Major (Res.) Alexander Fedorenko, 37, truck driver in the 79th battalion of the 14th brigade of the Armored Mechanized Corps, who was from Bat Yam.
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Staff Sergeant Danila Diakov, 21, from the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, who lived in Maale Adumim.
Sergeant Yahav Maayan, 19, from the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, who was from Modiin.
Sergeant Eliav Astuker, 19, from the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, who lived in Ashdod.
Among the six injured soldiers, two are in serious condition.
According to the IDF’s initial investigation, the soldiers were hit by an explosive device detonated by terrorists, as well as by gunfire in the northern Gaza Strip, in Beit Hanoun.
The IDF has recently intensified its operations against Hamas in the far north of the Gaza Strip, in an operation that has been ongoing since October. It is now focusing on the Beit Hanoun region, after raids in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya.
Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, a photo released by the IDF, January 9, 2025. (Credit: Israeli Army)
Three soldiers were killed in the coastal enclave on Wednesday. According to investigations carried out by the military, the troops were killed by an explosive which hit a tank during operations in Beit Hanoun. An incident that came after three other soldiers had died in separate incidents over the previous forty-eight hours – incidents that had also left people injured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to the soldiers on our security. Their heroism and bravery will remain in our hearts forever.”
Hamas terrorists killed in school
In Jabalia on Saturday, the army said it carried out a drone strike against a group of Hamas terrorists who were using the Halawa school to plan and carry out attacks against troops in Gaza and Israel.
Palestinian media added that the compound was hosting displaced Gazans. This strike would have left at least eight dead, they added – including two children. Thirty other people were reportedly injured.
The army said it took numerous measures to reduce harm to civilians in its attack, using precision weapons, aerial surveillance tools and other intelligence.
Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas’s authority, says more than 46,000 people have been killed or presumed dead in the conflict so far – a toll that is unverifiable and inconclusive. distinction between civilians and armed men. Israel claims to have killed some 17,000 terrorists in fighting on the ground in Gaza, in addition to a thousand on Israeli territory, on October 7.
Israel says it seeks to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s population as human shields – launching its attacks from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
Israel and Hamas have been at war for about fifteen months, a war that was sparked by the pogrom committed by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The gunmen massacred 1,200 people and had kidnapped 251 people, who had been taken hostage in Gaza.
In recent days, negotiations for a ceasefire within the enclave – an agreement that would open the door to the release of the captives – have accelerated and on Saturday, Netanyahu announced that he would send leading negotiators in Qatar to try to achieve a real breakthrough in the talks.
