IDF announces deaths of 2 soldiers in southern Gaza, bringing ground op toll to 158

The Israel Defense Forces announces the deaths of two soldiers in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, bringing the military’s death toll since the start of the ground offensive to 158.

They are:

Staff Sgt. (res.) Elisha Yehonatan Lober, 24, of the 179th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 8104th Battalion, from Yitzhar.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Joseph Yosef Gitarts, 25, of the 179th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 7029th Battalion, from Tel Aviv.

Lober was killed during a gun battle with Hamas operatives, and Gitarts was killed by an anti-tank guided missile.

The military says four troops were seriously wounded in battle yesterday: two soldiers of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 82nd Battalion as well as an officer in the 75th Battalion, all hurt by a mortar shell in southern Gaza. A reservist of the 646th Brigade’s 6646th Battalion was hurt in the Strip’s north, the army says.