On Monday the IDF announced the death of the 600th soldier in the “Swords of Iron” war that began after the Hamas attacks on October 7.

Staff Sgt. Nadav Cohen, 20, from Haifa, a member of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, was killed by an anti-tank missile in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, becoming the 256th military fatality in the coastal enclave since the start of the ground offensive on 27 October.

The announcement of Cohen’s death comes a day after the IDF published the name of another soldier who was killed in action in southern Gaza during the current operation against Hamas: Sgt. First Class Sivan Wail, 20, from Ra’anana, who was a member of the Egoz guerrilla warfare commando unit.

Nearly 20 per cent of IDF fatalities since the ground invasion in Gaza began have been the result of friendly fire or accidents according to IDF press releases.

Some Israeli soldiers have been killed in airstrikes by the IDF and shrapnel from their own explosives, and some have been run over by Israeli armoured vehicles or were mistakenly identified and hit by tank fire, shelling and guns, according to a report released by the IDF in January. At the time of the report, such fatalities accounted for 36 of the 188 soldiers who were killed during the ground invasion, which experts say is one of the highest proportions in recent military history.

Palestinians inspect the damage outside Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital after the Israeli military withdrew from the complex housing the hospital on 1 April 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

"There's really no limit to the procedural steps that you can take to minimise those kinds of casualties,” retired US Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland told NPR. “And even with that, there are going to be breakdowns, miscommunication and tragic outcomes as a result.”

Israel called up nearly 300,000 reservists into active duty after October 7, many of whom made the transition from their regular day jobs directly to close-quarter urban combat with very little training. Since October 7, a total of 3,181 soldiers have been wounded in battle.

The news of the IDF’s 600th soldier killed in action comes as news broke of Israel’s withdrawal from Al-Shifa hospital after a two-week-long siege on the complex, where troops reportedly killed over 200 Hamas militants and discovered evidence that the terrorist group had been launching attacks from the civilian-populated enclave.