An Israeli officer was killed in an apparent accident in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the military announced.
He was named as Lt. Ori Gerlic, 20, a platoon commander in the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion, from Meitar.
According to an initial Israel Defense Forces probe, the officer was killed by an Israeli explosive that detonated, for reasons as-yet unclear, during efforts to demolish structures in Khan Younis.
The military said it was investigating what caused the explosive to detonate prematurely.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip now stands at 460. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
Gerlic’s death came days after a military encampment in Khan Younis came under a rare large-scale Hamas attack.
Despite errors that enabled gunmen to enter the army post, the IDF said soldiers were able to fight back and successfully repel the attack, killing around 15 of the attackers. Three soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, the IDF said.
Troops of the Kfir Brigade operate in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis in a handout photo issued by the IDF on August 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks reportedly advanced into a new neighborhood of Gaza City in the Strip’s north on Saturday.
Al Jazeera aired footage purportedly showing IDF tanks in the Sabra neighborhood, which is located in the central part of Gaza City, close to the Zeitoun neighborhood, where the military has been operating for over a week.
صور خاصة للجزيرة تظهر توغل عدد من الآليات العسكرية الإسرائيلية في محيط حي الصبرة جنوبي مدينة #غزة، وأصوات إطلاق نار كثيف في المنطقة#حرب_غزة #الأخبار pic.twitter.com/RmPivNQbfT
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) August 23, 2025
The IDF has said it is operating on the outskirts of Gaza City ahead of a major offensive that would see the military capture the entire city. Tens of thousands of reservists are due to show up for duty on September 2 for the offensive, which is likely to begin in the following weeks.
Israeli attacks in the Strip killed at least 34 people on Saturday, according to Palestinian media. The death toll in Gaza was not independently verified and does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
According to the reports, six of the people killed died while waiting for aid in the Zikim area of the northern Gaza Strip; two were killed in a drone strike on a tent in Khan Younis, and one was killed in a drone strike on a house in al-Sabra, south of Gaza City.
According to health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people in southern Gaza, more than half of them women and children. The officials said the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
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