Israeli army company commander killed in Gaza battles

Baghdad: The Israeli army announced the killing of a company commander within its ranks, during battles in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said in a brief statement today: "Major (reserve) Yotam Yitzhak Peled (34 years old) from the Rosh Ha'Ayin area (north) was killed." The Israeli army added in its statement: "Officer Peled, commander of an administrative support company in the 8119th Logistics Corps Battalion, was killed in a battle in the central Gaza Strip," without further details. In total, the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the outbreak of the war on October 7 has reached 691, including 331 in ground battles in Gaza since the 27th of that month. While the number of wounded soldiers has reached 4,327, including 2,214 in ground battles, according to data from the army, which faces local accusations of concealing a larger toll of its dead and wounded. Earlier today, Saturday, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced the killing and wounding of Israeli soldiers after targeting two vehicles with two anti-personnel bombs in the axis of their incursion into the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood south of the city of Gaza. Qassam said in a statement published on the Telegram platform that its fighters "were able to detonate two anti-personnel bombs in two jeeps (military vehicles) of the enemy forces, and clashed with the remaining soldiers with machine guns, killing and wounding them in the vicinity of the university college in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza." It added: "The landing of helicopters to evacuate the wounded and dead was monitored." Clashes continue between fighters from armed Palestinian factions and Israeli army forces in the various axes of its incursion into the Gaza Strip, amid continued aerial and artillery bombardment of various areas, resulting in deaths and injuries. Source: National Iraqi News Agency