ISTANBUL

Four Israeli soldiers were killed and five others were injured on Friday morning in an explosion at a building in the Bani Suheila neighborhood of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israeli army.

“The building was booby-trapped, and the explosion caused the structure to collapse on the soldiers,” the army was quoted as saying.

The military identified two of the slain soldiers as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross, 33, of the Maglan commando unit and Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, 19, of the Yahalom combat engineering unit.

The names of the other two soldiers will be released later, it added.

“Five soldiers were severely and moderately wounded in an explosion that caused a building collapse in Khan Younis,” the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing the army.

It added that “among the five, a Maglan officer was severely wounded and four additional soldiers were moderately wounded.”

Over the past three days, the Israeli army has announced that seven of its soldiers were killed and more than 10 others injured, including some in critical condition.

This brings the total number of Israeli military troops killed since Oct. 7, 2023, to 864, of whom 422 have died since the start of the ground offensive on Oct. 27, 2023.

Army data indicates that 5,930 officers and soldiers have been wounded since the beginning of the war, including 2,693 in ground battles in the Gaza Strip.

These figures include casualties in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and within Israel.

Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a genocidal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.