An Israeli soldier died in the southern Gaza Strip.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer died in an apparent accident in the southern Gaza Strip. With his death, the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground offensive against Hamas resumed in March has risen to 41.

The officer was identified as Captain Reei Biran, 21 years old, a team commander in the reconnaissance unit of the Golani Brigade, originally from Kibbutz Shorashim.

According to a preliminary army investigation, the incident occurred during an ongoing operation in Khan Younis. The troops were deployed in an area with buildings that, according to intelligence information, had been used by Hamas for terrorist activities. The soldiers placed explosives in the buildings with the intention of demolishing them.

About two hours after the mines were placed, an explosion occurred. Biran was hit, possibly by shrapnel or debris, and was declared dead shortly afterward.

The army indicated that the case remains under investigation.

Since the start of the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza —and of military operations along the border with the Strip— in October 2023, the total number of Israeli deaths has risen to 450. The figure includes two police officers and three civilian contractors from the Ministry of Defense.

The campaign began after Hamas's bloody attack on October 7, 2023, when terrorists from the group broke into Israeli territory, killed about 1,200 people —mostly civilians— and kidnapped another 251.