Two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

Jerusalem, April 27 (IANS) Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, according to separate statements issued by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police.

The two are Ido Voloch, 21, an armored corps officer and platoon commander, and Neta Yitzhak Kahana, 19, an undercover officer in the Border Police.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that a Border Police ambush force encountered a squad of militants in the Shajaiyah neighbourhood, eastern Gaza City, and Kahana was killed in the ensuing battle on Friday.

According to the report, about 15 minutes later, during the rescue operations, militants fired an RPG rocket at the rescue force, resulting in an Israeli soldier being moderately wounded.

About an hour later, militants fired an RPG at an Israeli tank in Shajaiyah, during which Voloch was killed and another soldier was moderately wounded.

The channel added that in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, four Israeli armored fighters were injured, one seriously and three moderately, by explosive devices.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli tank driver was killed by sniper fire in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said in a statement.

The soldier, who served in the 79th Battalion of the "Machatz" Armored Brigade, was killed "during combat in northern Gaza," the military said on Thursday, adding that his family had been notified of his death.

The slain soldier's name has not yet been cleared for publication.

In addition, an officer in the Yahalom Unit and a reservist from the same battalion were severely wounded in the incident and evacuated to a hospital, according to the statement.

--IANS

int/rs