JERUSALEM, June 3 – Three Israeli soldiers were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The three, Lior Steinberg, Ofek Barhana, and Omer Van-Gelder, were fighters from the 9th Battalion of the Givati infantry brigade, the statement said.
Israel’s state-owned Kan TV News reported that on Monday evening, the soldiers were escorting an IDF fire truck that entered the city of Jabaliya to put out a fire in an armored personnel carrier (APC) following a technical malfunction.
As the troops were returning to Israeli territory, the convoy, which included an APC and four Humvee military trucks, entered an area where explosive devices had been planted, according to the channel.
One of the vehicles was directly hit, killing the three soldiers and moderately wounding two others.
XINHUA
