Dec. 26 (UPI) — Israeli Defense Forces said three soldiers died in continued fighting with Hamas on Tuesday, as its military intensified its attacks in Gaza on Tuesday.
The IDF said Master Sgt. Reservist Maor Lavi, 33; Capt. Shay Shamriz, 26; and Capt. Reservist Shaul Greenglick, 26, were among the dead. It said Lavi was killed in the outskirts of el-Bureij in central Gaza, where another soldier of the 450th Battalion was seriously wounded in the same battle.
Shamriz and Greenglick were killed in Daraj Tuffah in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and another officer and two soldiers of the 931st Battalion were seriously wounded in the same fight.
The IDF said Daraj Tuffah is one of the last Hamas strongholds where it has been concentrating its operations in northern Gaza.
“[We are facing a] multi-front war and are coming under attack from seven theaters: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [West Bank], Iraq, Yemen and Iran,” Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said to Israeli lawmakers. “We have already responded and taken action in six of these theatres.”
In the meantime, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said all telecommunications and Internet services have been cut off in the Gaza Strip.
“We regret to announce a complete breakdown of fixed telecommunications and internet services in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing offensive,” Paltel said. “Our teams are working diligently, within the available resources, to restore services.”
The United Nations human rights office spokesperson Seif Magango said they are “gravely concerned” about the “continued bombardment” of central Gaza by Israeli forces as civilians continue to be killed.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 290,915 have been killed since the start of the Oct. 7 conflict, with 54,918 injuries. The ministry said 241 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours Tuesday.