An IDF army officer was killed Monday when an anti-tank rocket struck his tank in southern Gaza City, the military said Tuesday, marking the first fatality in the ground phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, a renewed offensive aimed at taking control of Gaza’s largest urban center.
The IDF identified the soldier as Maj. Shahar Netanel Bozaglo, 27, of Migdal HaEmek, a company commander in the 7th Armored Brigade's 77th Battalion. He was critically wounded by an RPG round fired by Hamas terrorists and later died at Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
Maj. Bozaglo was operating as part of the battalion's combat team under the command of the Golani Brigade when the attack occurred in the morning hours. His death brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the war to 911, including 465 who have fallen since the IDF launched its ground campaign in Gaza.
According to the military, Monday’s incident came amid a major expansion of IDF operations in Gaza City, where 36th Division troops have joined the offensive to “encircle and destroy Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade.” The operation, now in its second week, follows a preliminary stage involving artillery fire, airstrikes on Hamas targets and infrastructure, targeted killings of terrorists and ground raids to clear territory for maneuvering forces.
Earlier Monday, another officer — from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion — was seriously wounded during a close-quarters firefight with Hamas gunmen in the city. According to the IDF, the force identified the gunmen, pursued them and killed them following a short chase. The wounded officer was evacuated to a hospital, and his family was notified.
The IDF also reported an attempted rocket launch from Gaza City toward the Nahal Oz area, which was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force.
As the ground offensive intensifies, the military said engineering units are working to clear paths for advancing troops and to neutralize threats. In the past 24 hours, forces struck more than 200 terror targets, including underground infrastructure, operational apartments and terrorists, the IDF said.
Four days earlier, four IDF soldiers were killed in Rafah after the armored vehicle they were traveling in struck a roadside bomb in the city’s Jeneina neighborhood. They were identified as Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26, of Tzafria; Lt. Ron Arieli, 20, of Hadera; Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, 22, of Har Bracha; and Lt. Eran Shelem, 23, of Kibbutz Ramat Yochanan.