Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months.
The drone exploded as the soldiers approached it, the military said Friday. They were evacuated to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The military called the explosion “a serious safety incident” and identified the soldiers as Ofek Moalem and Nadav Kali. It said the incident was under investigation.
Previously, five Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
