Four IDF soldiers killed as battles rage across Gaza; tanks said to advance into Rafah

Four Israeli soldiers were killed and several wounded as fierce battles raged across the Gaza Strip on Friday, while Hamas fired rockets at the southern city of Beersheba for the first time since December, lightly injuring a woman.

Israeli tanks reportedly advanced on a main road dividing the eastern and western halves of southern Gaza’s Rafah on Friday, amid heavy clashes taking place in the area, as well as in Gaza City in the north of the Strip.

The four soldiers were killed in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. According to an initial IDF probe, they were hit by an explosive device or devices in an alleyway.

The troops had been raiding a school complex where the military had indications of Hamas activity. Weaponry and at least one tunnel were discovered in the area of the school.

The IDF has returned several times to the Zeitun neighborhood since the war’s outbreak, as Hamas has managed to regroup in areas previously cleared by the army. READ MORE