An Australian man has been killed in Gaza after invading the territory with the Israeli army, according to reports.
Reserves Captain Lior Sivan died while serving in an Israeli armoured brigade as a tank commander in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on December 19, ABC News has reported.
The dual citizen was called to serve in the Israeli Defence Force shortly after October 7 when Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the Australian government, killed more than 1200 Israelis and took 240 hostages according to Tel Aviv officials.
Since then, the Israeli government has unleashed a bombing campaign and ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 22,000 Palestinians, local health authorities say.
Much of the occupied territory has been reduced to rubble, the vast majority of its 2.3 million citizens have been displaced and thousands are on the brink of starvation because of Israel's blockade.
Capt Sivan's father Dan Sivan told the ABC that the 32-year-old had risen out of his tank hatch to try shooting a Hamas fighter who had allegedly placed an explosive device on an adjacent tank.
"But it was an ambush and someone hiding behind a building launched something at him," he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told AAP the government was aware of the reports and "urgently seeking further confirmation".
"We send our condolences to his family during this difficult time and stand ready to provide consular assistance," a spokesperson said.
Health Minister Mark Butler echoed these sentiments and noted that Capt Sivan's actions were not against the law.
"It is legal for Australians to fight as part of the formal armed forces of a foreign nation, which we understand is what this young man has been doing," he told reporters on Tuesday.
While he had no official confirmation about the man's identity, all of the deaths in the war zone were a tragedy, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said.
"In this case, our thoughts would go to the family who have lost a loved one," he told Sky News.
"But also in recognising that he was fighting in the service of Israel and fighting for the values and principles of being able to live in a peaceful, free, democratic country."
The ultimate sacrifice made by the captain is being mourned, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said.
"People like Lior Sivan are the difference between Jewish life and Jewish death. He is a hero in the truest meaning of the word," co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said
"By all accounts he was a special human being and the pain of his loss is sharpened by the knowledge he leaves a heavily pregnant wife and a two-year-old son."
This comes after two Australians - including an alleged Hezbollah fighter - were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon in late December.
The government is still seeking to establish whether he was associated with the listed terrorist organisation.
"It is a criminal offence for Australians to engage in hostile activities overseas other than as part of the formal armed forces of a foreign nation," Mr Butler said, pointing to serious consequences like the cancellation of passports.
The government has urged Australians not to travel to Lebanon and warns the roughly 15,000 remaining in the region to leave at the earliest possible opportunity.
