Three IDF soldiers were killed in battle with terrorists in south Gaza early on Wednesday and several others were air lifted to hospital with injuries, the IDF said.
The three have been named as: Lt. Paz Eliyahu, 22, a Paratroopers soldier from Kibbutz Evron; St.-Sgt. Li Mat, 19, from Eilat; and Stf.-Sgt. Shahar Duaber, a 20-year-old Paratrooper from Kibbutz Ginegar. All three were posthumously promoted.
The three Paratroopers were killed when an explosive detonated in their vicinity.
"Shahar was a boy full of joy of life and love for life. From a young age he was mature and took on tasks and responsibilities like an adult. In Ginegar addressed everyone who needed help. He had friend throughout the [Jezreel] valley. A social boy, loving, handsome and an exceptional basketball player," Michal Wolf, a counselor and coordinator for youth on Dauber's kibbutz, told Ma'ariv Online. Tabuer is survived by his parents, Orly and Boris, and his 24-year-old brother, Guy.
The funeral for Paz Eliyahu was schedule for Thursday at 5 p.m. at the cemetery in Evron. Shahar Dauber's funeral was set to take place at 11 a.m. Thursday at the cemetery in Ginegar.
Two soldiers have been seriously injured, 10 moderately inured, and 20 lightly injured in Gaza battles over the past 24 hours.
On Tuesday evening, two IDF soldiers were killed in Gaza. The total number of IDF casualties stands at 32 since the start of the ground offensive against Hamas.
The IDF named the two fallen soldiers. One was named as Captain Dmitri Levitas, a company commander serving in the Armored Corps. Dmitri was killed by Gazan sniper fire. He was 26-years-old and from the cities of Jerusalem and Geshur in the Golan Heights.
The second soldier killed Tuesday was Lt. Natan Cohen, 23-years-old from Modi'in, a company commander in the Armored Corps.
On Tuesday, the IDF struck some 200 terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, including more than 100 in the Shejaia neighborhood in the space of a few hours, the army said, as ground forces continued to destroy tunnels and engage Hamas cells in exchanges of fire.
A terrorist cell opened fire on a Givati Brigade infantry unit in Gaza on Tuesday night. Soldiers returned fire, killing the gunmen.
The Paratrooper Brigade’s St.-Sgt. Evyatar Turgeman, 20, from Beit She’an, was killed on Tuesday morning in a firefight with terrorists, the IDF said. He was posthumously promoted from the rank of sergeant.
The IDF named one of two soldiers killed on Monday in Gazan gun battles as the Nahal Brigade’s St.-Sgt. Oded Ben-Sira, 22, from Nir Etzion.