The Israeli army said in a statement: "Captain Rei Biran (21 years old) was killed yesterday in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip," bringing the number of Israeli army deaths since the resumption of ground operations last March to 41, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
The newspaper added that Biran was killed in an explosion outside a building the Golani Brigade was preparing to demolish, noting that the death toll of the occupation army since the start of the war has risen to 890, including 448 during ground operations.
On Wednesday, the army announced the death of Reserve First Lieutenant Abraham Azoulay, an engineering vehicle operator, during a clash in Khan Yunis, highlighting the occupation's mounting losses in the Gaza Strip.
In a related development, the Israeli military said Friday that a tank commander from the 82nd Battalion of the Sa'ar Golan Division was seriously injured during a clash in the northern Gaza Strip. The military said the commander was taken to the hospital, without providing further details about the circumstances of his injury or the fate of the rest of the tank crew.
On Friday, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced in a statement that it had detonated a pre-prepared landmine on Thursday as an Israeli tank passed through the "Slaughterhouse" area southwest of Khan Yunis, confirming that casualties had occurred among its crew.
Resistance factions, including the Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades, claim to carry out almost daily attacks targeting Israeli vehicles and forces across the Gaza Strip. They confirm that Israeli forces have been killed and wounded, despite continued strict Israeli military oversight that prevents the disclosure of actual casualties.
Israel is accused of concealing the actual number of its casualties, despite escalating resistance attacks and Palestinian factions' assertions that they have inflicted heavy human and material losses on the army.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 195,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and famine has claimed the lives of many. This has been done in complete disregard of international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the aggression.
