Five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza combat
"All of Israel bows its head and mourns the fall of our heroic soldiers, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages," Netanyahu posted on X.
The Israeli military said the five soldiers, aged between 20 and 28, "fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip".
Two others were severely wounded and "evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment", it said, adding their families had been notified.
"The investigation indicates that the force was hit by three (improvised explosive devices) that were activated within a matter of minutes," military spokesman Effie Defrin said.
A force that was deployed to rescue the troops, "encountered fire that opened towards it, wounding some of the fighters", Defrin added.
He said Israeli troops were now "surrounding the Beit Hanoun area from all directions, above and below ground," and that dozens of militants were located there.
Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said "the complex Beit Hanun operation is yet another blow delivered by our valiant fighters".
"The war of attrition our fighters are waging against the enemy -- from the north of the Strip to its south -- will inflict additional losses on it every day," the spokesman of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
- Tributes -
One of the soldiers who was killed, Noam Musgadian, 20, was buried in Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery on Tuesday, his coffin carried by soldiers while family members mourned.
"A huge thank you for almost 20 perfect years," his brother, Roi, said. "I don't know how they manage to fit such a big heart into such a small coffin."
In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "the unbearable news of the fall of five heroic sons in Gaza -- most of them fighters of the ultra-Orthodox 'Netzach Yehuda' battalion -- pierces the heart".
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for an end to the war "for the sake of the fighters, for the sake of their families, for the sake of the hostages, for the sake of the State of Israel".
According to the Israeli military, 450 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27, 2023.
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,575 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
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