2 Israeli soldiers killed, 2 others injured in exchange of fire in northern Gaza

The Israeli army on Monday said two more soldiers were killed and two others injured in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the northern Gaza Strip.

In a statement on X, the army described the clashes with the Palestinian fighters in the last few hours as "fierce battles."

The statement identified the two deceased soldiers as Sgt. First Class (res.) Ben Zussman and Sgt. Binyamin Yehoshua Needham from the army's Combat Engineering Corps' 601st Battalion.

The Israeli army also claimed it had killed the Hamas fighters who opened fire on its troops.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army said three of its soldiers had been killed in battles in northern and central areas of Gaza.

The new deaths bring the army's death toll since Oct. 7 to 403.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Friday after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 15,899 Palestinians have been killed and more than 42,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.