Seven soldiers were killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip after an armored vehicle they were in was hit by an explosive device on Tuesday.
Six of the soldiers were named on Wednesday morning as Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, 21, from Kfar Yona; Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, from Rehovot; Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, 20, from Elyakhin; Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, 19, from Mazkeret Batya; Sgt. Shahar Manoav, 21, from Ashkelon; and Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, 20, from Eshhar.
The name of the seventh soldier was expected to be released later in the day.
They all served with the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion.
The deaths raise Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 440.
According to an initial IDF probe, a Palestinian terror operative planted a bomb on the soldiers’ Puma armored combat engineering vehicle while they were driving in Khan Younis.
The blast set the CEV on fire, and efforts to extinguish it were unsuccessful. All the soldiers inside perished in the blaze. The burnt remains of the CEV were later towed out of Gaza.
In a separate incident in the Khan Younis area, two soldiers of the 605th Battalion were wounded, one seriously and one lightly, by RPG fire.
Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that “our soldiers fought heroically and fell during their mission to defend the State of Israel and return our hostages,” and expressed condolences to their families.
In a post on X, President Isaac Herzog mourned the loss of the seven soldiers, writing, “The scene in Gaza is difficult, the battles are difficult, and the burden is unbearable.”
“We bow our heads and embrace with pain and tears the bereaved and grieving families. We are all with you, in grief, with hugs and tears. We will pray for the health of the soldiers who were injured and strengthen all IDF soldiers and their commanders who carry on their shoulders the responsibility of protecting the lives of all of us,” he wrote.
In its statement, the Kfar Yona Municipality vowed not to forget Yashinovski’s “smile, his values and his huge love for Israel.”
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed 251 were taken hostage.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 56,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.