The IDF reported on Monday that Staff Sergeant Matan Vinogradov, 20, a soldier from the Nahal Brigade's 932nd Battalion, from Jerusalem, was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to the army, Staff Sergeant Vinogradov was killed during an overnight raid on the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City where forces of the 162nd Division's 401st Brigade and special forces are operating against Hamas terrorists.
The operation followed intelligence indicating that senior Hamas commanders and operatives had been using the hospital and its facilities for terrorist activities in recent weeks.
A soldier was reportedly lightly wounded in the exchange of fire, and several terrorists were killed in the fighting, part of which took place within the medical facility itself. The army believes the terrorists have been using different rooms inside the hospital but not tunnels, as the IDF had destroyed them earlier in the war.
The death toll among Israeli security forces since the beginning of the war has reached 593 soldiers, with 250 servicemembers killed since the launch of ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
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