ALBAWABA - The Israeli army confirmed on Wednesday that Sergeant (Res.) Yona Efraim "Efi" Feldbaum, 37, a soldier in the Gaza Division's Combat Engineering Corps, was killed in fresh fighting with Hamas members in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.
Local media in Israel reported that clashes erupted between the army and Hamas fighters in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
These clashes were followed by a series of Israeli strikes on various areas of the Strip, marking the most intense escalation since the Sharm el-Sheikh ceasefire agreement. Mediators urged Hamas and Israel to adhere to the terms of the peace deal.
Walla news agency detailed that Hamas militants came from an underground tunnel network in the al-Janina neighborhood of Rafah and engaged in a gunfight with Israeli forces carrying out a complex engineering operation.
Israeli estimates suggest that Hamas was preparing for an attack, a claim that the Palestinian movement denied and affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered on Tuesday night “powerful and precise” airstrikes across Gaza, shattering a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire amid renewed tensions with Hamas.
The truce, intended to last 45 days, calls for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Gaza corridors, the release of Palestinian detainees, and unrestricted humanitarian aid, in addition to the release of the living and the remains of all hostages taken on October 7.
