The Israeli army announced that four troops were killed in the ongoing fighting in Gaza while the fifth soldier succumbed to wounds, marking a grim toll on Israel’s military. The intense clashes extended into entrenched Hamas strongholds at opposite ends of the enclave.
The death toll from Sunday’s events brought the total number of military casualties in Israel’s ground operation in Gaza to 127.
This underscores the formidable resistance faced by troops attempting to dismantle the Hamas terror group. Meanwhile, Israel grappled with the accidental killing of three hostages, mistakenly identified as terrorists, in a debris-laden Gaza neighborhood.
As the military campaign unfolded, reports circulated regarding a potential renewed effort for a hostage release deal.
Simultaneously, the UN Security Council geared up to vote on a resolution expected to demand a cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages held in Gaza.
A total of 128 individuals remained in captivity after being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists who unleashed havoc in southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the massacre of 1,200 people and igniting the conflict.
In southern Gaza, where the focus was on gaining control of Khan Younis, three soldiers lost their lives in Sunday’s fighting. The fallen soldiers were identified as Sgt. First Class Liav Aloush, 21, from Gedera; Master Sgt. (res.) Etan Naeh, 26, from Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu; and Master Sgt. (res.) Tal Filiba, 23, from Rehovot—all serving in various elite units.
In northern Gaza, Sgt. First Class Lidor Yosef Karavani, 23, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 8163rd Battalion, hailing from Eilat, was also killed.
The army further reported the death of Sgt. First Class Urija Bayer, 20, a commando in the Maglan unit, succumbed to injuries sustained in southern Gaza on December 14.
Bayer, an Evangelical Christian and IDF volunteer, originated from Ma’alot Tarshiha. His family, which has run an old age home for Holocaust survivors for decades, established the facility in Nahariya and a free guesthouse for survivors as a means of atoning for their German grandparents’ country’s sins.
Amid this somber news, Aloush’s mother, a retired IDF casualty assistance officer, revealed to the Ynet news site that she had not spoken to her son for at least two weeks. The toll of the conflict weighed heavily on the nation as it mourned the loss of these brave soldiers.
