TEL AVIV, January 31. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has lost three more troops in clashes with militants from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the army press service said in a statement.
According to it, two servicemen were killed in the south of the enclave and one died in combat in the northern part of the Strip. Since the onset of the ground operation, Israeli forces have lost over 220 troops. The IDF’s total losses since the conflict escalated have amounted to about 560 troops.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.