Five more soldiers were seriously wounded in the same incident, which was under military censorship most of yesterday to allow the families to first be notified.

The soldiers had entered a booby-trapped building in Rafah.

The Wall Street Journal quotes Gaza-based Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar as saying in a recent message to the Hamas leadership in Qatar: "We've got the Israelis right where we want them."

Seems an odd statement given the situation in Gaza.

But Sinwar stresses in the same message that Israel has more to lose than Hamas from the war in Gaza.

We know from experience that Sinwar could be right, if Israel isn't careful. A prolonged war with high casualties is very bad for Israel. It's devastating to the Israeli home front, and world opinion is now very much against Israel. All of this plays right into the hands of Hamas.

There are many lessons to be learned from the dramatic Gaza rescue operation. But one stands ahead of all others.

👉What can we learn from the rescue operation

‼️Sirens in Haifa

Enemy drone reportedly intercepted over Haifa.

Rocket fire at several other locations on the northern border now.

Numerous interceptions over Katzrin in the central Golan.

And Rosh Pina near Safed in the Upper Galilee.

A Hamas official tells Reuters that the group accepts the ceasefire outline adopted by the UN Security Council and is ready to start negotiating the particulars.

Israel stresses that it will not end the war in Gaza until all the hostages are returned and the coastal enclave no longer poses a threat to the citizens of the Jewish state.

Israeli officials said their reading of the US-authored resolution adopted yesterday by the UN Security Council permits Israel to achieve those goals, and in so far as that interpretation is accurate, they accept the proposal.

Action in the skies over northern Israel this evening.

‼️Update

Hamas has conveyed its response to mediators on the ceasefire outline adopted by the UN Security Council and already accepted by Israel.

But, Hamas flipped the proposed timetable. Rather than a hostage release followed by gradual withdrawals of Israeli forces, Hamas wants the IDF to fully withdraw, and then it'll talk about release hostages.

Hamas also insists on a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel agrees only to withdraw from urban areas, while maintaining a presence in Gaza and the ability to operate anywhere in the enclave when needed.

Furthermore, Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire, while Israel is talking about a temporary truce, and remains determined to destroy Hamas as a military threat.

The UN outline, as presented by US President Joe Biden, is somewhat vague on these points, which has allowed both sides to bring their own interpretations, and which is why it is unlikely to work.

Officials believe Hamas has now given orders to its men to immediately execute remaining Israeli hostages if the IDF is getting near, to prevent any further successful hostages rescues.

The hostages are Hamas's primary leverage, so every successful rescue, no matter how few are brought home, is a major blow to the terror group.

Further to that, it is believed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is using a number of Israeli hostages as a human shield to deter an Israeli strike on his position.