Two IDF soldiers killed, four seriously injured in northern Gaza combat
Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, and Maj. Dvir Zion Revah, 28, killed in battle in Beit Hanoun; IDF says orders ‘sharpened’ after troops shoot at World Food Programme aid convoy
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and four others were seriously wounded in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
The slain soldiers were named as Maj. Dvir Zion Revah, 28, from Jerusalem, and Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, from Eli.
Both served in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion. Revah was a company commander and Shiknazi was his deputy.
The two officers were killed and two other soldiers of the 932nd Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.
The military did not immediately provide further details on the circumstances of the incident.
Their deaths brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 397.
In a separate incident on Monday, two other soldiers with the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were seriously wounded in fighting in northern Gaza. They were evacuated to Israel for treatment.
Also on Monday, the IDF said its instructions for soldiers have been “sharpened” after troops opened fire on a UN World Food Programme convoy in the central Gaza Strip Sunday.

The WFP said the convoy of three vehicles with eight staff members came under fire by Israeli soldiers “despite having received all of the necessary clearances from Israeli authorities.
“This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today,” WFP said, calling for improvements in security conditions to allow aid to continue.
At least 16 bullets struck the convoy, and none of the staff were injured, according to WFP.
WFP strongly condemns the horrifying incident on January 5, when a clearly marked @WFP convoy was shot at by Israeli forces near the Wadi #Gaza checkpoint. https://t.co/FIUmNba9K8
— WFP in the Middle East & North Africa (@WFP_MENA) January 6, 2025
The convoy was traveling from southern Gaza to the Strip’s north and returned south following the incident.
In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said that “the incident was investigated, instructions were sharpened, and lessons will be drawn from the investigation.
“The IDF continues to act in a targeted manner against terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and does everything in its power to prevent harm to uninvolved [civilians], and through COGAT will continue to work to enable and facilitate humanitarian assistance to residents of the Gaza Strip,” the military added.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 49 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll of the war to 45,854. The number could not be verified and does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Israel and Hamas have been at war for nearly 15 months since the Palestinian terror group invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages to Gaza.
Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November 2024 as well as another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7 and the days that followed.
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.
The war has caused immense damage to Gaza’s infrastructure and some 1.9 million Palestinians of the 2.3 million population are residing in the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone,” according to IDF assessments in July.