From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
IDF announces 4 soldiers killed fighting in Gaza; ground op toll rises to 180
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces announces that four soldiers have been killed fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 180.
They are:
Sgt. Roi Tal, 19, of the Kfir Brigade’s Duchifat Battalion, from Kfar Yehoshua.
Sgt. First Class (res.) David Schwartz, 26, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 8219th Battalion, from Elazar.
Sgt. First Class (res.) Yakir Hexter, 26, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 8219th Battalion, from Jerusalem.
Sgt. First Class (res.) Gavriel Bloom, 27, a combat engineer in the 36th Division, from Beit Shemesh.
Tal was killed during a battle with Hamas operatives in southern Gaza; Schwartz and Hexter were killed by an RPG in the Khan Younis area, and another soldier of the 8219th Battalion was seriously wounded; and Bloom was killed by explosives detonating in Bureij, and four other soldiers were seriously wounded in the same incident.
Additionally, two officers from the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade were seriously wounded in central Gaza.
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