ISRAEL – An Israeli soldier was on Wednesday killed by friendly fire in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

In a statement, the Israeli army said a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit was killed in Khan Younis, without giving further details.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the soldier was killed “by mistake by Israeli army fire,” adding that the army opened an investigation into the incident.

According to Israeli military data, 925 troops have been killed since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, including 471 who died in ground fighting in the enclave.

A US-backed ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Oct. 10, halting Israel’s two-year war that has killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.

Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 603 Palestinians and injuring 1,618 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Palestinian Killed

The Israeli army killed a Palestinian man Wednesday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, medics said.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said in a brief statement that a young man was killed by Israeli gunfire near the Bani Suheila roundabout, east of the city.

Israeli military vehicles stationed in eastern Khan Younis opened heavy fire since the early morning hours, witnesses said.

Israeli forces also fired near the Morag axis north of Rafah in southern Gaza, while artillery shelled eastern areas of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, they added.

In Gaza City and the northern part of the territory, Israeli vehicles fired toward eastern areas of Beit Lahia, while artillery shelling targeted the vicinity of Al-Sikka Street east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in southeastern Gaza City.

No injuries were immediately reported in these attacks.