IDF soldier killed in Hamas sniper attack on Gaza City guard post

An Israeli soldier was killed in a Hamas sniper attack in Gaza City on Wednesday, the military announced on Thursday morning.

The slain troop was named as Staff Sgt. Chalachew Shimon Demalash, 21, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Beersheba.

According to an initial probe by the Israel Defense Forces, Demalash was manning a guard post at an army encampment when he came under sniper fire.

Demalash was survived by his parents.

Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted his “deep condolences” to the family, saying that the State of Israel “honors his bravery and embraces the family in these tough moments.”

A volunteer who met Demalash, Avi Even Chaim, described him to Haaretz as “a brave, modest soldier with a big smile and a huge heart.”

“Chalachew exhibited strength alongside a rare goodheartedness; he connected with everyone, loved his friends, and always volunteered first to stay behind and stand on the frontlines,” Even Chaim said.

His death brought the IDF’s toll in its new Gaza City offensive to two, while Israel’s toll in the war against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 471. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on a home where displaced people had taken refuge in central Gaza killed at least 11 people on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Hamas-run civil defense told AFP.

Israel has intensified its offensive on the Strip in recent weeks, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee and get out of harm’s way as it seeks to end Hamas’s control of Gaza City.

“Eleven people were killed and many are missing or wounded after an Israeli airstrike targeted a house… which was sheltering displaced people north of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip,” civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal — who Israel has said is a Hamas operative — claimed, adding that several children were among those killed.

The toll cannot be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from the IDF.

The military said Thursday that in the past day, the Israeli Air Force struck over 170 targets in the Gaza Strip, as troops advanced further in Gaza City amid the new offensive against Hamas.

The military said targets hit by the IAF included terror operatives, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.

In Gaza City, the 98th Division directed drone strikes on some 20 targets, including a terror operative planning to carry out a bombing attack, other gunmen, and a weapons depot, the IDF said.

The 162nd and 36th divisions were also operating in Gaza City, and in the past day, their forces killed additional operatives and destroyed infrastructure used by terror groups, the military says. Strikes carried out by the 215th Artillery Regiment hit sites used by Hamas to ambush Israeli troops, the IDF added.

Meanwhile, outside of Gaza City in the Strip’s north, the 99th Division destroyed several Hamas sites, including tunnels and an ambush site where explosive devices had been planted, the military said. In the Strip’s south, the Gaza Division killed several operatives who approached troops, the IDF added.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 65,000 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 over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during and immediately after the October 7, 2023, 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.