Three IDF paratroopers killed in Gaza
IDF Spokesperson's Unit identified three new fallen soldiers during Operation Protective Edge; 2 officers killed in the Strip overnight.
The fallen soldiers were identified as:
Lieut. Paz Eliyahu, a combat soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade, was 22 from Kibbutz Evron. He was posthumously promoted from 2nd Lieut.
Staff Sergeant Lee Matt, a 19-year-old Paratroopers Brigade soldier from Eilat. He was posthumously promoted from Sergeant.
Staff Sergeant Shachar Dauber, a 20-year-old Paratroopers Brigade soldier from Kibbutz Ginegar. He was also posthumously promoted from Sergeant.
Two IDF officers, Captain Dmitri Levitas and First Lieutenant Natan Cohen were also killed earlier in the day in fighting in Gaza Strip, raising the death toll of IDF soldiers to 32, as Operation Protective Edge entered its 16th day.
In the last 24 hours some 20 IDF soldiers were wounded, three are in serious condition and nine sustained moderate wounds.
Captain Levitas, 26, an Armored Corps company commander from Jerusalem, was killed by sniper fire in Gaza. His family moved to Israel from Tashkent, Uzbekistan when he was just a year old, and he was planning a career in the military.
First Lieutenant Cohen, 23, also served in the Armored Corps, but as platoon commander. The time and location of both their funerals will be published later in the day.
Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by Palestinian rocket fire that has reached deep into Israel, disrupting daily life and spreading panic despite the success of Iron Dome.
Three Palestinians died in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, Gaza officials said. Rocket launches set off air-raid sirens in southern Israel, but there was no word on casualties.
There was also violence in the West Bank, where a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops near Bethlehem. The army said soldiers fired a rubber bullet at him during a confrontation with dozens of Palestinians hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails.
On Tuesday, some 13 IDF soldiers killed in the ground incursion into Gaza were laid to rest and it was announced that one soldier was still missing. The number includes Staff Sergeant Jordan Ben Simon, a French national and lone soldier, whose funeral was attended by over 5,000 people after an online campaign urged Israelis to show support for the fallen warrior.
Yoav Zitun contributed to this report.
