The Israeli army has announced the death of the commander of the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade, Colonel Asaf Hamami, who was reportedly killed during confrontations on October 7, adding that his body is still held in Gaza.

Hamami follows two other senior Israeli occupation officers, Colonel Roi Levy and Colonel Jonathan Steinberg, who were killed during confrontations. More than 390 Israeli occupation soldiers and officers have been killed since October 7, marking the largest death toll that the occupation has admitted to since its 2006 war on Lebanon.

The occupation forces also announced that a member of the elite Nahal Brigade was critically wounded during confrontations in the northern Gaza Strip, which were renewed on Friday morning.

Israeli media outlets also reported on Friday that four IOF soldiers were injured during confrontations in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the Times of Israel, 396 soldiers have been killed since October 7, around 70 of which were killed in the Gaza Strip following "Israel's" ground invasion in late October.

Read more: Protest and distrust, Israeli unit refused returning to battle

Gaza's Resistance fiercely confronts invading forces

Pairing the direct ground operation with continuous rocket barrages on Israeli positions in the Gaza Envelope and central occupied cities, the Palestinian Resistance has announced a series of operations, confirming casualties among enemy forces.

Al-Qassam Brigades

• Hamas' military wing confirmed that its fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a Shawaz, Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP), piercing the tank's armor, completely destroying it, and setting it ablaze.
• Al-Qassam fighters executed an ambush near the Tawam junction in the northern Gaza Strip, targeting an Israeli infantry force with heavy-caliber rifles and anti-personnel explosives, confirming that several enemy troops were killed in the attack.
• In Gaza City, an al-Qassam sniper shot down an Israeli soldier, the Resistance faction announced.

Al-Quds Brigades

• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's military wing confirmed that its fighters destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank using their homegrown Thaqeb armor-piercing explosive device in Hay al-Sheikh Radwan.
• In Beit Hanoun, the Brigades fired tandem PG-7VR at Israeli armored vehicles, directly hitting their targets, including 3 armored vehicles and an armored military-grade bulldozer.

In this round of confrontations, the Resistance has seen relative success with its home-ground explosive devices and EFPs, which have been deployed in higher frequency, since the renewal of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Interestingly, Shawaz EFPs have seen renowned success all over the region, in Lebanon and Iraq specifically, when deployed against both Israeli and Western top-of-the-line armored vehicles.

Read more: Gaza's homegrown weapons: How Hamas, PIJ left 'Israel' in shambles