Tragedy in Gaza: Three Givati Brigade soldiers killed by anti-tank fire in northern Gaza

Three soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Monday, the IDF announced: St.-Sgt. Ido Zano, St.-Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern, and Sgt. Omri Cohen.

Zano, 20, was from Yehud-Monosson; Halpern, 19, from Kiryat Ono; and Cohen, 19, was from Ashdod. They all served in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade. All three were killed by anti-tank fire while entering an armored IDF transport.

Additionally, 12 soldiers were wounded in the same incident, including two seriously.

By press time, this raised the IDF’s tally of soldiers killed since the start of the war last year to 816, of whom 384 were killed since the start of the military’s ground operations in the enclave on October 27.

Since the ceasefire signed on November 26 with Lebanon kicked in, there has been less activity and, therefore, fewer casualties on that front, though the military announced that four soldiers were killed on Monday. The IDF has not stopped operating in Gaza, however, as talks have been at a stalemate with the withdrawal of the Qataris from the negotiating table.

Israel-Hamas war

Since the announcement of the win of US President-elect Donald Trump, the Qataris have reentered the negotiation process, presided over by the Americans and the Egyptians, as the American envoy was set to travel to Israel to restart talks in a more official capacity, and also to discuss the developments in Syria.

In northern Gaza, the IDF has been focused primarily on Jabalya, where troops have reentered multiple times to clear out Hamas recuperation attempts. Troops have also operated in central Gaza and in Rafah.