Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed overnight and early Sunday in several clashes with Palestinian militants amid the military's ground incursion in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
Seven soldiers were killed when their armoured personnel vehicle was hit by anti-tank missiles overnight, Xinhua reported citing Walla! news website.
Shortly afterwards, at 1.20 a.m., one soldier was killed in a fire exchange. Less than an hour later, another Israeli soldier was killed and one soldier was seriously injured in another fire exchange with militants.
In another incident, an anti-tank missile was fired at an Israeli tank, killing three soldiers. Another soldier was killed in a separate incident, the details of which are currently not known.
Dozens of other soldiers were hospitalised in hospitals throughout the country.
