The Israel Defense Forces said five soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded, two of them critically, in a coordinated ambush late Monday near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The casualties belong mainly to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, an infantry unit that had been operating on foot when the attack occurred. According to a preliminary IDF investigation, at least two roadside bombs were detonated remotely against the patrol at about 10 p.m., followed by additional explosive devices that struck rescue teams arriving at the scene. Palestinian militants then opened fire on the evacuation effort, complicating the rescue. Military helicopters air-lifted the wounded to several hospitals in Israel, and the Southern Command has launched a formal inquiry. The incident is one of the deadliest for Israeli forces since June and comes amid an expanded ground operation in Beit Hanoun that has included intensive aerial strikes. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 18 Palestinians were killed overnight in separate Israeli air raids elsewhere in the enclave, underscoring the continued intensity of the 21-month war. The fighting flared as Israeli and Hamas delegations held indirect, U.S.-backed cease-fire talks in Doha and while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met President Donald Trump in Washington. Israeli officials said the soldiers “fell in the campaign to defeat Hamas and free the remaining hostages,” bringing the IDF’s death toll in the Gaza war to 888.