Israel’s military has introduced a daily “tactical pause” in its southern Gaza operations to facilitate increased humanitarian aid deliveries. The pause, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time in the Rafah area, aims to ensure safe passage for aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing to various parts of Gaza.
This initiative seeks to alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the ongoing conflict involving Hamas.
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Tragic Blast in Gaza Claims Lives of Eight Israeli Soldiers
In a devastating incident on Saturday morning, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip, marking the deadliest event for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the enclave since January.
As of Sunday morning, six of the fallen soldiers have been identified:
- Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, from Beit Jann.
- Sgt. Eliyahu Moshe Zimbalist, 21, from Beit Shemesh.
- Sgt. Itay Amar, 19, from Kochav Yair.
- Sgt. Stanislav Kostarev, 21, from Ashdod.
- Sgt. Or Blumovitz, 20, from Pardes Hanna-Karkur.
- Sgt. Oz Yeshaya Gruber, 20, from Tal Menashe.
All of these soldiers served in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, with Mahmoud holding the role of deputy company commander.
The families of the remaining two soldiers have been notified, and their names will be released in due course, according to the military.
According to preliminary findings from the IDF, the soldiers were inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle (CEV) at the time of the explosion, with no survivors reported from the incident.
