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Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip
Photo: Idf / REUTERS
An Israeli soldier, who also has German citizenship, has been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip. "We have been informed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that unfortunately a German national is among the victims of the fighting in Gaza," the Foreign Office said on Wednesday. The embassy in Tel Aviv is in contact with the relatives. Previously, the »Bild« newspaper had reported.
Previously, according to »Bild«, Israeli media had reported the death of the German-Israeli Urija B. The Christian soldier died of a serious head injury and was buried in Israel on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, he had been wounded the previous Thursday in the south of the Gaza Strip, where he was fighting for an elite Israeli unit against Hamas.
According to the report, the German-Israeli leaves behind his parents Gideon and Nelli as well as two brothers and two sisters. His grandparents had immigrated to Israel in 1972 to found a home for Holocaust survivors. Her organization "Zedaka" was founded in Germany in 1960 with the aim of helping survivors of Nazi crimes.
Israel and Hamas have been at war for more than two months. On October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters entered Israeli towns and committed atrocities against civilians. According to Israeli figures, around 1140,250 people were killed and about <> people were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip.
In response, the Israeli army has since bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and launched a ground offensive. More than 19,660 people have been killed so far, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified.
col/dpa/AFP