Death of 20 soldiers in Gaza marks June Israel’s deadliest month in 2025

The death of 20 Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of June has made it the deadliest month for Israel since the start of 2025, according to Israeli media reports on Sunday.

The Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that, despite Gaza becoming a secondary front due to Israel’s war with Iran, June has seen the highest number of Israeli military casualties since January.

On 13 June, Israel, with US support, launched a 12-day offensive against Iran. The operation targeted military bases, nuclear facilities, civilian infrastructure, and resulted in the assassination of senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. The attack left hundreds dead or injured.

In retaliation, Iran fired ballistic missiles and launched drone attacks at Israeli military and intelligence sites. Many of these strikes breached Israel’s defence systems, causing unprecedented destruction, widespread panic, dozens of deaths, and thousands of injuries.

The newspaper stated that 15 of the 20 soldiers were killed on 24 June in battles in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

According to the report, the most recent fatality was a soldier from the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, who was killed on Sunday during fighting in northern Gaza.

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