The occupation forces said in a statement that soldier Yona Ephraim Feldbaum, 37, " fell during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip" on Tuesday.
The announcement came hours after Israel launched airstrikes on several areas in Gaza, killing at least 63 people, including 24 children, and injuring dozens more, according to the Civil Defense in the sector.
The raids targeted residential homes, a civilian vehicle, a shelter, and a hospital, all of which are located within what is known as the "yellow line".
This line is the first withdrawal line stipulated in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 10.
The “yellow line” separates the areas where the Israeli occupation army is still present on its eastern side from those where Palestinians are allowed to move within it on its western side.
On Tuesday evening, the official Hebrew broadcasting authority claimed that "unidentified gunmen fired anti-tank missiles and sniper fire" at Israeli soldiers in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Hebrew newspaper “Maariv” claimed that the last few hours witnessed a heavy exchange of fire between the Israeli army and members of the “Hamas” movement in the Al-Junayna neighborhood, east of Rafah.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement issued by his office, ordered the army to launch "immediate and powerful attacks on the Gaza Strip."
Hamas, in a statement, denied any connection to the shooting in Rafah, and affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement, stating that the Israeli bombing was a blatant violation of the agreement and "confirms the insistence on violating the terms of the agreement and attempting to thwart it."
It called on the mediators guaranteeing the agreement to "take immediate action to pressure the occupation, curb its brutal escalation against civilians in the Gaza Strip, stop its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement, and compel it to abide by all its terms."
On October 10, Hamas and Israel reached a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, and sponsored by US President Donald Trump, as part of a multi-stage plan.
From that date until Tuesday, before the evening raids, Israel committed 125 violations of the agreement, resulting in the martyrdom of 94 Palestinians, the injury of 344 others, and the arrest of 21, according to the government media office in Gaza.
The Israeli war of extermination, with American support, since October 8, 2023, has left 68,531 Palestinian martyrs and 170,402 wounded, most of them children and women, with reconstruction costs estimated by the United Nations at about $70 billion.
