Israeli occupation army announced on Tuesday that two IOF soldiers were killed during the ground assault launched by the Zionist entity against the besieged strip of Gaza.

Israeli occupation army announced on Tuesday that two IOF soldiers were killed during the ground assault launched by the Zionist entity against the besieged strip of Gaza.

The latest deaths raised the number of occupation soldiers killed in the 16-day Israeli offensive on Gaza to 27.

"Yesterday, Monday, two IDF soldiers were killed during battles of Operation Protective Edge," a statement from the army read, referring to the so-called term of “Israel Defense Forces”.

The army said three other soldiers were seriously wounded over the course of the night.

Earlier on Sunday, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, announced that the resistance had abducted an Israeli soldier.

"The Israeli soldier Shaul Aaron is in the hands of the Qassam Brigades," a spokesman using the nom-de-guerre Abu Obeida said in a televised address on Sunday.