The Israeli military reported new deaths amid a genocidal campaign that has killed thousands of Palestinians.
The Israeli military confirmed the deaths of an officer and a soldier from its elite engineering unit, and the injury of four others, following the detonation of a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza.
This comes as Israel signals its intention to expand its ground operations across the Gaza Strip.
In a statement released Sunday on its official website, the army identified the deceased as Captain Noam Ravid, 23, an officer in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, and Sergeant Yaly Seror, 20, a fighter in the same unit. Both were killed during an operation in southern Gaza.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the fatalities occurred when a booby-trapped tunnel entrance, which the unit was inspecting, exploded.
2 IDF soldiers killed, 4 wounded in booby-trapped Rafah tunnel blast.
Risks remain high in Gaza's underground networks. #Rafah #IDF #Gaza pic.twitter.com/HNHgRHKv5v
— Facts Prime (@factsprime35) May 4, 2025
Two additional soldiers were reportedly wounded in the incident, and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth noted that two more members of the engineering unit were seriously and moderately injured, respectively.
The explosion took place Saturday in the Al-Janina neighborhood of Rafah, as Israeli forces were searching a building. Separately, in northern Gaza, a reserve soldier from the 7007th Battalion of the 16th Jerusalem Brigade was seriously wounded, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
These developments bring the total number of Israeli military deaths publicly acknowledged since October 7, 2023, to 853, including six since the resumption of Israel’s full-scale assault on Gaza on March 18.
Official figures also show that 5,758 soldiers have been wounded since October, with 2,588 injured during ground combat.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz extended condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in Rafah, referring to it as “a difficult time.”
In a related move, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli army issued tens of thousands of emergency call-up notices to reserve troops on Saturday evening, in preparation for a broader ground offensive.
However, military officials revealed that a growing number of reservists have been dodging service. One reservist told the paper that even former supporters of the war effort are now encouraging others to avoid enlistment.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes continued to pound various parts of the Gaza Strip, killing six Palestinians, including women and children, and injuring others.
In Khan Yunis, an Israeli strike killed a woman and wounded others in the Al-Amal neighborhood. Another strike in Wadi Saber, near Abasan al-Kabira, killed one person and injured several others after targeting a tent sheltering displaced civilians.
On Sunday, Israeli forces intensified their aerial bombardment on residential areas in Shejaiya and al-Tuffah neighborhoods in Gaza City, as well as in Rafah in the south.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that quadcopter drones fired directly at homes in the Tuffah neighborhood, further escalating the humanitarian crisis.
(PC, AJA)
The number of the zionist casualities is probably much higher than this, considering the nature of the operation.