JERUSALEM
Three Israeli troops were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, hours before a humanitarian ceasefire came into effect in the strip in the morning on Saturday, the Israeli army said.
The new fatalities bring to 40 the number of Israeli troops killed in battles with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since Israel started its war on the coastal Palestinian enclave on July 7.
Three more Israeli civilians were killed by rockets fired on Israel from Gaza in three weeks since the beginning of the war on Gaza, according to Israeli data.
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli army mentioned the names of four troops who were killed in Gaza combat, including the aforementioned three troops.
The army said earlier on Saturday that two troops were killed in Gaza combat, which brought the number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza to 37 by then.
The humanitarian lull comes hard on the heels of intensive Israeli shelling of homes and sites in the Gaza Strip, shelling that started on July 7.
At least 1000 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 5900 others injured in Israel's offensive, now in its third week.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, fired rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.
Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
By Alaa Rimawi
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