Israeli army says four soldiers killed in north Gaza

JERUSALEM: Palestinian militants killed four Israeli soldiers on Monday after lobbing an explosive device into their tank, the Israeli military said.

“Around 6:00 in the morning (0300 GMT), a squad of three terrorists arrived at the IDF (Israeli military) post near Sheikh Radwan in northern Gaza,” it said in a statement. “The terrorists threw an explosive device into an IDF tank — the device detonated, killing the four IDF soldiers who were in the tank at the time.”

Another soldier was moderately injured in the exchange of fire that ensued, the military said, adding that “hits were identified” on two of the three militants who carried out the assault.

Only three of the dead soldiers were named, while the name of the fourth has not yet been cleared for publication.

According to an AFP toll based on data from the Israeli military, 468 soldiers have been killed since the start of the military’s ground offensive in Gaza on October 27, 2023.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s east on Monday killed at least five people, after the Israeli military said it targeted positions belonging to the Hezbollah militant group.

“The Israeli enemy strikes on the Bekaa and the outskirts of Hermel led to a preliminary toll of five dead and five others wounded,” the health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it had hit several “targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization” in the Bekaa Valley, including what it described as training compounds used by the group’s elite Radwan force.