Israeli soldiers carry the flag-draped casket of Staff Sgt. Birhanu Kassie, who was killed in Israel s ground operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral at Mt. Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. AP
The Israeli occupation army announced on Wednesday the deaths of three more soldiers that were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.
Since Friday, 14 Israeli soldiers have been killed in battles in central and southern Gaza, an indication of how the Palestinian groups are still putting up tough resistance against advancing Israeli troops, even as Israel claims to have dealt a serious blow to the Palestinian resistance groups.
According to Israeli Army Radio, four soldiers were killed when an anti-tank missile struck their vehicle. The others were killed in separate, sporadic fighting.
Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by fire from the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, which has kept up low-level fighting with Israel since the war on Gaza began, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the Gaza war was exacting a "very heavy price" as the toll of soldiers killed in fighting mounted.
"This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza," he said after the army announced the death of the 14 soldiers.
"The war is exacting a very heavy price... but we have no choice but to keep fighting," he added in a statement.
Their deaths bring the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground invasion began on 27 October to 164, the military said.
The mounting death toll among the Israeli occupation army is likely to play an important factor in Israeli public support for the war.
Since October 7, more than 20,900 people have been killed in the Israeli aggression on Gaza, 70% of the dead are women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Some 55,000 have also been wounded
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