19-year-old IDF Sgt. Yaniv Michalovich, from Rehovot, killed in battle in northern Gaza

The IDF Spokesperson announced on Wednesday evening that Sergeant Yaniv Michalovich, a 19-year-old armored corps soldier from Rehovot serving in Battalion 82 of the "Storm from the Golan" (7th) Brigade, was killed in battle in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of northern Gaza, when terrorists in a nearby structure launched two RPGs at a Merkava tank.

This brings the overall number of Israeli soldiers killed in the "Iron Swords" war to 881.

In the same incident, five other soldiers were wounded, two of them, including the tank commander, were seriously injured.

Within three hours: One soldier killed, eight wounded in Shuja'iyya

According to Kan News, several incidents occurred in Shuja'iyya within the past day during an assault by the IDF's 98th Division, which entered Gaza on Tuesday as part of an expansion of operations in the northern part of the Strip.

The first incident, in which Sgt. Michalovich was killed, occurred around 9:00 a.m.

Shortly afterward, a sniper opened fire from a distance at soldiers from the Commando Brigade, not far from the RPG launch site. One Egoz unit soldier was seriously wounded in that attack.

Around 12:00 noon, an IDF D-9 bulldozer carrying soldiers from the 603rd Engineering Battalion hit an explosive device, wounding two soldiers, one moderately and the other lightly.

The IDF has not yet determined whether these incidents were part of a coordinated operation by a terrorist cell or if they were the actions of individual militants who exploited the situation to carry out guerrilla-style attacks.

In any case, today's events are considered unusual, as previous deadly incidents were typically characterized by guerrilla warfare: individual terrorists emerging from tunnels or destroyed buildings, exploiting vulnerabilities to plant explosives or to open fire at close range, and then escaping. This time, the attack appears to have been more organized.

Defense Minister Israel Katz paid tribute to Sgt. Michalovich: “My deepest condolences on the fall of Sgt. Yaniv Michalovich, an armored corps fighter in Battalion 82, who fell in battle in northern Gaza. Like all our brave fighters, Yaniv fought courageously to bring back our hostages and to defeat the Hamas murderers.”

“On behalf of the entire defense establishment, I embrace his family in their most difficult hour. I wish a swift recovery to all the soldiers wounded in this and other incidents.”

Earlier this week, it was cleared for publication that Sgt. Israel Natan Rosenfeld, 20, from Ra'anana, a combat engineer in Battalion 601, was killed in northern Gaza. According to a preliminary IDF investigation, an explosive device was remotely detonated on the force as the soldiers disembarked from an APC (armored personnel carrier) and prepared to enter and scan a building.

Last Wednesday, the names of seven combat engineers from Battalion 605 who were killed in an incident in Khan Younis were released: Staff Sergeant Alon Davidov, 21, from Kiryat Yam, Lt. Matan Shai Yeshinovsky, 21, from Kfar Yona, Staff Sergeant Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, from Rehovot, Staff Sergeant Niv Redia, 20, from Elyakhin, Sergeant Ronen Shapiro, 19, from Mazkeret Batya, Sergeant Shachar Manoav, 21, from Ashkelon, and Sergeant Maayan Baruch Perlstein, 20, from Moshav Ammi'ad.

Kan News also reported that in that incident a terrorist, emerging from a destroyed structure or a nearby tunnel shaft, managed to climb onto an IDF APC, threw an explosive device into the commander’s hatch, which was open, and then escape.

According to the preliminary investigation, the soldiers had been ordered to enter the vehicle in anticipation of an airstrike. The attack occurred around 5:30 p.m.

All the soldiers were inside the APC and did not notice the terrorist’s approach.