IDF announces death of 51st soldier during combat in Gaza

Tel Aviv, Nov 16 (IANS) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that Captain Shlomo Ben Nun (22) was killed during combat with Hamas terrorists on Wednesday night.

With this, the number of IDF soldiers who lost their lives in the fight with the Hamas since October 27 — when the force launched ground operation in Gaza — has gone up to 51.

Ben Nun was a deputy commander in the 202nd Battalion of the para troupe brigade.

The army also announced that two reserve soldiers were seriously injured in the fight with the Hamas terrorists on Wednesday night. Both the soldiers have been airlifted for medical treatment.

Since October 27, the IDF is engaged in ground invasion in the Gaza Strip. It has now entered the Hamas command centre in North Gaza. Since the IDF action begun, several Hamas leaders, including its aerial commander Abu Rubekha and naval commander Abu Shahinaba, have been killed.

Many other senior military commanders of Hamas’ elite Nakubh Battalion were also killed during the action.

The IDF claimed that it has evacuated more than 8,00,000 people from North Gaza to the southern part of Gaza, while the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees said that its shelters are flooded with people since the displacement.

UNRWA Executive Director (Communications), Tamara Al Rifa, told IANS, “The UNRWA centres are full of displaced people and the space constraints are heavy. This is a forced displacement and all the troubles related to it are here. Moreover, with the shortage of fuel, drinking water cannot be treated in desalination plants, making things worse.”