Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement Tuesday evening following the deaths of three Givati Brigade soldiers in a powerful explosion in northern Gaza's Jabaliya.
“We are advancing in a measured way to prevent or minimize, as much as possible, the loss of our soldiers,” Netanyahu said in the video, published as the three soldiers were being laid to rest.
Since the launch of Operation Gideon's Chariots in Gaza in mid-May, five IDF soldiers have been killed. The total number of Israeli military fatalities since the start of the war stands at 861.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Lior Steinberg, 20, from Petah Tikva; Staff Sgt. Ofek Barhana, 20, from Yavne; and Staff Sgt. Omer Van Gelder, 22, from Ma’ale Adumim. All three were members of the Givati Brigade's Rotem Battalion. Two additional soldiers were moderately wounded in the explosion.
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“I wish to express my deep sorrow over the deaths of Staff Sgt. Lior Steinberg, Staff Sgt. Ofek Barhana, and Staff Sgt. Omer Van Gelder, of blessed memory. May God avenge their blood,” said the prime minister. “I want to embrace their families and tell them: Your precious sons did not fall in vain. They fell in a just war—one of the most just there is. In a war in which we will defeat Hamas, free all our hostages, and ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
Netanyahu added, “Sadly, there are no wars without cost. The price you are paying—the price the people of Israel are paying—is heavy, sometimes unbearably so. But we will achieve all the goals of this war—every single one of them, without exception.”