The Israeli army evacuates one of its soldiers injured in the battles in the Gaza Strip (French)

The Israeli army announced on Sunday morning that a soldier was killed and three others, including an officer, were wounded in battles in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, at a time when battles raged between the resistance and the occupation forces in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City and in Khan Yunis.

The announcement of the soldier's death came a day after the Israeli army acknowledged the killing of a company commander with the rank of major in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati ​​Brigade in the ongoing battles in the northern Gaza Strip.

Before that, 7 officers and soldiers were injured on Thursday in the battles taking place in several areas in the Gaza Strip.

According to the announced official toll, about 240 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ground invasion late last October, and more than 1,960 others have been injured, and 318 of these are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

However, the Palestinian resistance confirms that the number of deaths among the Israeli army is much higher than what Tel Aviv acknowledges.

Fierce battles

Meanwhile, the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, has been transformed for days into a hotbed of fighting between the resistance and the Israeli occupation forces, and the neighborhood is witnessing fierce fighting, accompanied by Israeli air and artillery bombardment.

In parallel, fierce battles continue in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and the north of the Gaza Strip is witnessing clashes and resistance operations.

The Israeli army said yesterday that its operation in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood was continuing, and reported that dozens of militants had been killed in direct clashes.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said yesterday that its fighters sniped an Israeli officer with a Ghoul rifle south of the Zaytoun neighborhood.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also said that its fighters destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a "Shawaz" device in the same area, killing and wounding its crew before they were evacuated by helicopters.

It added that its fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a "Tandum" shell south of the Zaytoun neighborhood.

For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that it bombed gatherings of Israeli vehicles and soldiers in the Zaytoun neighborhood with mortar shells.

Al-Sariya also broadcast scenes that it said were of missile launches that bombed Israeli military concentrations in the front lines south of Gaza City.

Source: Al Jazeera