The Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday the death of Staff Sgt. Chalachew Shimon Demalash, 21, who was killed by Hamas sniper fire in Gaza City. Demalash, from Beersheba, served in the Nahal Brigade and was remembered as a “brave, modest soldier with a big heart.”
His death brought Israeli military losses in Gaza City’s current offensive to two, with total wartime casualties now at 471 since October 2023, including police officers and civilian contractors.
Meanwhile, the IDF has intensified its Gaza operations. Over the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes hit more than 170 targets, including weapons depots, terror cells, tunnels, and ambush sites. Drone strikes eliminated operatives planning new attacks, while artillery fire dismantled Hamas positions.
Hamas-run officials in Gaza claimed at least 11 people were killed in an airstrike on a house sheltering displaced civilians, though Israel has not confirmed the report and stresses Hamas embeds itself in civilian areas.
The Gaza health ministry claims more than 65,000 deaths since the war began, a figure Israel disputes, noting that more than 22,000 Hamas fighters have been eliminated, alongside 1,600 terrorists killed inside Israel during the October 7 massacre.
Israel says its campaign aims to dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure while minimizing civilian harm, though fighting continues to displace hundreds of thousands in Gaza City and beyond.
