WASHINGTON (JTA) — An Israeli soldier was killed in Israel’s Gaza Strip incursion, the first Israeli military casualty in the latest conflict.
Eitan Barak, a sergeant with a Nahal unit, was killed by light arms fire during the initial stages of the incursion, Israeli media reported. The army was investigating whether he was killed by friendly fire.
Dor Chanin, an Israeli bringing food to soldiers, was the first Israeli civilian to be killed in the conflict. He died July 15 when he was hit by mortar fire at Erez Crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.
About 270 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the latest conflict which started July 8 when Israel launched air strikes in response to an intensification of rocket fire from Gaza.
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