Two Israeli soldiers killed in Khan Younis in Gaza Strip
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Two Israeli soldiers, including a Golani Brigade member, were killed after Hamas fighters detonated an explosive against a Namer armored vehicle in Khan Younis during a tunnel ambush.
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Israeli Occupation Forces carry the coffin of an Israeli reserve soldier who was killed in a battle in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral at the military cemetery in Haifa, occupied Palestine, on July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
The Israeli occupation army announced on Sunday morning the deaths of two soldiers, a technology and maintenance officer and a member of the elite Golani Brigade, during Saturday’s battles in the southern Gaza Strip. The soldiers were killed following an attack targeting an Israeli armored vehicle in Khan Younis, against a Namer armored personnel carrier (APC).
Fighters from the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza attached an explosive device to the Namer APC in Khan Younis, setting it ablaze, according to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Details published by Maariv indicate that Palestinian fighters emerged from a tunnel opening near a Golani Brigade position in Khan Younis. They were able to approach the Israeli armored vehicle and attach an explosive device before retreating.
Preliminary investigations revealed that three soldiers were inside the Namer vehicle at the time of the blast. Two of them were killed instantly, while the third sustained injuries and was later transported to the hospital by air force aircraft after receiving first aid on site.
The Israeli army’s 36th Division has launched an investigation into how the fighters were able to reach the armored vehicle undetected and successfully plant the explosive device.
This incident underscores the ongoing threat posed by Hamas tunnel operations, which continue to challenge the mobility and security of Israeli military units in southern Gaza.
Separately, the army confirmed on Saturday the death of another soldier who had sustained critical wounds days earlier when an explosive device targeted a military vehicle elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. His death brings the total number of recent battlefield fatalities to three.
Israeli APCs burn as al-Qassam target occupation forces in Gaza
On a related note, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Saturday that its fighters carried out a complex ambush targeting three Israeli armored personnel carriers east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Brigades explained that its fighters detonated two armored vehicles using pre-planted explosive devices placed inside the command compartments. The explosions led to the destruction and incineration of both vehicles and their crews.
A third armored vehicle was later struck by a Yassin 105 shell in the area of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis.
Multiple Israeli media outlets reported that the number of killed occupation soldiers rose to three as a result of today's Khan Younis resistance operation.
The statement added that Al-Qassam fighters observed an Israeli military bulldozer burying the destroyed vehicles to extinguish the flames, while Israeli helicopters landed to evacuate the site.
