Two Israeli troops were killed late on Friday in battles with Palestinian "militants" in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper reported.
The two new fatalities bring to 37 the total number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza since Israel started its operations in the Palestinian territories on July 7, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz added on its website.
Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with fierce aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire.
At least 884 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 5840 others injured in Israel's ongoing offensive, now in its third week.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.
Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en - Gazze
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