A 21-year-old Israeli soldier, major with the Combat Engineers Corps, was killed in combat in the north of the Gaza Strip, the Israel military said.

Between December 30 and January 1 three Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports citing the United Nations.

The three deaths brought the overall death toll to 171 Israeli soldiers killed and 983 injured since the invasion of the Palestinian territory began two months ago.