The IDF reported Tuesday morning that Sgt. Major (res.) Vladimir Loza, 36, from Ashkelon, a soldier in the 7020th Battalion, was killed in combat in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Two other soldiers were wounded in the same incident, which was likely caused by an explosive device detonated against a unit from the 5th Brigade.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, 895 IDF soldiers have been killed in combat.
Loza, who served in the reserves, fell during a mission in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip.
On Monday evening, the military released the name of another soldier killed in southern Gaza: Staff Sgt. Amit Cohen, 19, of Holon, a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion. He died in an operational accident at a fortified position in Khan Younis, north of Rafah.
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The explosion that killed him is believed to have been caused by improper handling of an explosive device. A fellow combat officer from the same battalion was seriously wounded in the blast.
Last week, three armored corps soldiers from the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade were killed in Jabaliya in northern Gaza: Staff Sgt. Shoham Menachem, Sgt. Shlomo Yakir Sharam, and Sgt. Yuli Faktor.
As the investigation progresses, signs increasingly suggest that the deadly blast—initially believed to have been caused by enemy anti-tank fire—was instead triggered by the detonation of an Israeli shell inside their armored vehicle. The blast also left a tank officer, Lt. A., critically wounded.