The IDF published the names of three soldiers who were killed Wednesday morning in the northern Gaza Strip.
The fallen soldiers were Sgt. Yisrael Yudkin, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Gideon Chay DeRowe, and St.-Sgt. Eliyahu Haim Emsallem.
Sgt. Yisrael Yudkin was from Kfar Chabad and served in the 97th Battalion (Netzah Yehuda), which operated near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. He served as a combat officer also in the Kfir Brigade.
IDF St.-Sgt.-Maj. Gideon Chay DeRowe, 33, from Tel Aviv, was a soldier in the Yahalom Unit, also fell in battle in northern Gaza.
St.-Sgt. Eliyahu Haim Emsallem, 21, from Ra'anana, was a soldier in the 97th Battalion and in the Kafir Brigade.
What forces were doing in northern Gaza
The battalion was in Beit Hanoun to uncover tunnel shafts, explosive devices, and sniper activity of Hamas terrorists in the area between civilian houses and the security area in front of the border fence with Israel.
A number of other soldiers were wounded in the area. An IAF helicopter evacuated the wounded to Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.