Four IDF soldiers from the Armored Corps were killed in northern Gaza, the military said on Monday.
The soldiers were named Staff-Sergeant Uri Lamed, age 20, from Tel Mond, Sergeant Gadi Cotal, age 20, from Kibbutz Afikim, Sergeant Amit Arye Regev from Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut, and Lieutenant Matan Abramovitz, age 21, from Ganei Tikva.
Shortly before the incident, at 5:00 a.m., the battalion's forces had returned to the post from nighttime operations in the area, and by 6:00 a.m., the soldiers were in "dawn alert," with commanders conducting a situational assessment.
At around 6 a.m., a cell comprising three terrorists arrived on the outskirts of Sheikh Radwan, west of Jabalya in northern Gaza, close to where the Nahal Brigade's 50th Battalion was stationed. The tank was stationed in a defensive position near the IDF's post.
The terrorists approached the tank and opened fire on the tank crew, and immediately following the fire, they threw an explosive device inside the tank within close range, with the explosion killing the four soldiers inside.
Soldier from Nahal Brigade moderately wounded
During subsequent exchanges of fire with the terrorists, a soldier from the Nahal Brigade was moderately wounded.
According to the initial investigation, the crew inside the tank was not asleep during the incident, and was reported to be alert and conducting scans of the area.
Two terrorists were hit during the exchange of fire with IDF soldiers.
The deaths of the four soldiers raise the toll of soldiers' deaths to 904 since the start of the Swords of Iron War.
This is a developing story.