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Israeli army acknowledged the killing of an officer and the wounding of 16 others in the ongoing battles in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll to 598 since the start of the war in October.
The Israeli army said that Staff Sergeant Alon Kudryashov, 21 years old from the Egoz commando unit, was killed in battles in southern Gaza, bringing the number of his dead since the beginning of the ground attack on Gaza on the twenty-seventh of the same month to 254 officers and soldiers.
The Israeli army explained that the dead soldier was with another group of soldiers from the Egoz unit on a mission near Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and that he was killed when Hamas members fired an RPG missile at the building they were in and that he was mortally wounded. He died as a result.
The Israeli army added that 16 soldiers were injured, including 6 in critical condition.
Thus, the number of Israeli army casualties since the beginning of the war has risen to 3,165 officers and soldiers.