The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that "David Libby, a 19-year-old Israeli citizen, was killed by a powerful explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip," adding, "Investigations indicate that he was driving a bulldozer as part of a combat unit of the 401st Brigade in the Jabalia area (north) when the device exploded."
The authority continued: "The force of the explosion damaged the bulldozer (he was driving), killing him instantly."
The Israeli military explained in a post on Twitter that "Libi" was an employee of a contracting company that carries out engineering work for the military under official assignment, and that he hails from the "Malachi Hashalom" settlement in the occupied West Bank.
He added that the deceased had been working in the engineering unit in recent months, tasked with "destroying infrastructure," which he described as "hostile."
In a related development, the private Channel 14 reported on Thursday that three Israeli soldiers were wounded with varying degrees of severity when Palestinian militants fired an RPG at an Israeli force in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has not issued an official statement regarding the incident or the casualties.
A new operation by the Qassam Brigades
For its part, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Thursday that it had targeted Israeli vehicles and soldiers in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and released a video clip documenting the moment one of the ambushes was carried out.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said in a video posted on Telegram that its fighters carried out a well-planned ambush using the "wolf howl" tactic, through which they were able to deceive the occupation forces and lure them into a previously booby-trapped tunnel shaft. The Brigades did not elaborate on the nature of the tactic.
The statement added that the fighters "blew up the tunnel with enemy soldiers inside, engaged from point zero, then lured a rescue force and detonated two IEDs inside it."
The video showed scenes from the operation, which included firing shells at a house where an Israeli force was holed up, then detonating explosive devices inside the building, followed by the detonation of three other buildings where Israeli forces were holed up.
In a separate statement, the Qassam Brigades announced that it had targeted a military excavator with an anti-tank explosive device near the Abu Lahia area, east of the town of Al-Qarara, in Khan Yunis Governorate, in the southern Gaza Strip, last Tuesday.
This development comes as Israel, with US support, has continued its genocidal campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 177,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
According to Israeli military data, updated Tuesday, since October 7, 2023, 858 soldiers have been killed and 5,906 other officers and soldiers have been injured.
These figures include soldiers killed in Gaza, southern Lebanon, and the occupied West Bank. Contrary to the announced figures, the Israeli military is accused of concealing the true number of its casualties, particularly given the numerous announcements by Palestinian factions that they carried out operations and ambushes against its personnel, which they claim resulted in deaths and injuries.
In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, which took effect on January 19, 2025, was concluded through Egyptian-Qatari mediation and US support, and the Palestinian movement adhered to it.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, evaded the start of the second phase and resumed the genocide in Gaza on March 18, responding to the demands of the most extreme faction within his right-wing government to advance his own political interests, according to Hebrew media.
