The army stated that the three dead soldiers belonged to the 9th Battalion of the Givati Infantry Brigade.
For its part, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that "the three soldiers were killed as a result of a severe explosion," noting that two other soldiers were injured during the incident.
She added, "The dead soldiers are Sergeant First Class Lior Steinberg, Sergeant First Class Ofek Barhana, and Sergeant First Class Omer Van Gelder, from the Givati Brigade."
Channel 12 also reported, citing Israeli military sources, that soldiers were exposed to a large explosion on Monday evening, caused by explosive devices planted in the Jabalia area.
Israeli media reported that fighting in the area was still ongoing, noting that the evacuation of dead and wounded soldiers failed due to heavy fire, and that a military helicopter came under fire while attempting to evacuate the wounded.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced in a Telegram statement Monday evening that its fighters were "engaging in fierce clashes at point-blank range with enemy soldiers east of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip." The statement added that "the ongoing clashes have resulted in the deaths and injuries of enemy soldiers."
This comes as Israel, with US support, has continued its genocidal campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 179,000 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 others wounded. These figures include soldiers killed in Gaza, southern Lebanon, and the West Bank.
Contrary to the announced figures, the Israeli occupation army is accused of concealing the true number of its casualties, particularly given the disregard for numerous Palestinian factions' announcements of operations and ambushes against its personnel, which they claim resulted in deaths and injuries.
According to numerous international reports, Israel imposes strict military censorship on its media regarding human and material losses resulting from attacks by "Palestinian factions." This is for a variety of reasons, including maintaining Israeli morale.
