HY’D: The IDF announced that a soldier was killed and two others were seriously injured amidst the fighting in the Gaza Strip. The slain soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitzan Schessler, 21, a soldier in the 55th Brigade. His death raises the IDF’s ground operation death toll in Gaza to 189 and 523 since October 7th. The IDF said that an additional reservist was injured in the same battle in which Schessler was killed. Another soldier in the 603rd Engineering Battalion was also injured. Both soldiers were evacuated from southern Gaza to an Israeli hospital for further treatment. Since October 7th, 2,541 IDF soldiers have been wounded, according to IDF data. Of those, 1,113 were wounded in the Gaza ground operation. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)