Three Israeli reserve soldiers were killed on Thursday when their Humvee drove over a roadside bomb and exploded, the IDF stated. Their death came amid a renewed push by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
All three soldiers were part of the 5460th support unit of the 460th Brigade and were killed during a logistics run. They were identified as: Master Sgt. Ori Moshe Borenstein (32) from Moreshet; Maj. Netanel Hershkovitz (37) from Jerusalem; and Master Sgt. Tzvi Matityahu Marantz (32) from Bnei Adam.
The death toll from the ground fighting in Gaza among Israeli troops now stands at 353.
Army Radio reported that the IDF is still probing whether the bomb was activated by a trigger wire or by remote activation, which would indicate a higher level of organization by Hamas forces in the area.
Israeli troops of the 162nd Division entered Jabaliya several days ago and have encircled the nearby camp. Over 120 terrorists were killed in the fighting so far, and Israeli troops found numerous booby-trapped buildings, weapons, and rocket launchers.
"It is evident that Hamas managed to reorganize and rebuild part of its military capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip, in preparation for the entry of our forces into the area after 5 months of not operating there," said Doron Kadosh, Army Radio's military correspondent.
On Thursday, the IDF also announced it had struck a command and control compound in Jabaliya and killed at least 12 terrorists there, some of which had taken part in the Oct. 7 invasion.
The compound was located in a former medical complex and contained many weapons, the army stated.
After the strike, the IDF released detailed information about the 12 killed terrorists, several of whom were low-level commanders in Hamas' elite Nukhba Forces, which led the invasion and massacre on Oct. 7.
"Before the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial observations and additional intelligence information," the IDF stated.
"The elimination of the terrorists in the area is another example of the terrorist organizations' systematic use of the population and civilian infrastructure to carry out terrorist acts against the state of Israel and the IDF forces."
Reprinted with permission from All Israel News.