The IDF said Saturday that Lt. Ori Gerlic, 20, from the town of Meitar, was killed in the southern Gaza Strip when Israeli ordnance detonated near him during an assault on a Hamas target in Khan Younis.
Gerlic, a platoon commander in the Shimshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, is the first Israeli soldier to be killed in Gaza in nearly a month. The army said the incident is under investigation.
Gerlic’s death comes after the army last month announced the deaths of Capt. Amir Saad of Yanuh-Jat and Sgt. Inon Nuriel of Kiryat Tivon, who were killed when their Namer armored personnel carrier caught fire in Khan Younis after an explosive was attached to it. Terrorists attempted to target a nearby APC carrying the Golani Brigade’s new reconnaissance commander, but the unit accompanying the battalion commander managed to repel the attack by shooting the assailant, preventing a second strike.
According to military figures, 899 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including 454 during ground operations in Gaza. Another 6,204 have been wounded, among them 2,876 since the ground maneuver started. Thirteen soldiers are currently hospitalized in serious condition, 150 in moderate condition and three in light condition. The military said 74 soldiers have died in operational accidents in Gaza since the war began.
The army also reported heavy fighting in Khan Younis earlier this week, when 15 terrorists attempted to infiltrate an Israeli fortification on the Magen Oz corridor. The attackers emerged from a tunnel shaft that had previously been inspected by Israeli forces. Soldiers awoke to a direct confrontation inside the breached building. Three soldiers were wounded in the clash, one seriously and two lightly.
The battle unfolded in three locations and lasted between five and ten minutes, before the terrorists retreated. Pursuing forces, aided by drones directed by battalion and company commanders, killed about 10 fighters, including mortar teams providing cover for the attackers.