In Gaza on Monday, three separate incidents resulted in the tragic loss of nine IDF soldiers, with an additional eight sustaining injuries. The majority of casualties occurred in an episode involving explosive material near an uncovered Hamas rocket manufacturing facility in al-Bureij. A truck transporting the material was intended for use by soldiers to demolish parts of the Hamas facility.
The circumstances leading to the explosion remain uncertain. It is unclear whether a technical error precipitated the incident or if there was a delayed booby trap that triggered the explosion. If a technical error occurred, it might be attributed to insufficient time for the engineers involved to distance themselves before the planned explosion.
Two soldiers lost their lives in another incident in Khan Yunis, and a third incident claimed the life of another soldier elsewhere.
The IDF announced four names early on Tuesday:
- Sgt. Roi Tal, 19 years old, from Kfar Yehoshua, a fighter in the 94th Battalion, Kfir Brigade, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
- Maj. (res.) David Schwartz, 26 years old, from Elazar, a fighter in the 8219th Engineering Battalion, Haci Hash formation (551), was killed in battle in the south of the Gaza Strip.
- Maj. General (res.) Yakir Hexter, 26 years old, from Jerusalem, a fighter in the 8291 Engineering Battalion, Hace Hash formation (551), fell in battle in the south of the Gaza Strip.
- Maj. (ret.) Gavriel Bloom, 27 years old, from Beit Shemesh, a fighter in the divisional engineering team of the 36th division, fell in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Later on Tuesday, the IDF released five additional names, bringing the total fallen soldiers to nine:
- Maj. (res.) Amit Moshe Shahar, 25, from Ramat Yochanan, a soldier in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, fell in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
- Capt. (ret.) Denis Krokhmalov Veksler, 32, from Be’er Sheva, a combat engineering officer in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, was killed in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
- Capt. Ron Efrimi, 26, from Hod Hasharon, a combat engineering officer in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, was killed in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
- Maj. (res.) Roi Avraham Maimon, 24, from Afula, a combat paramedic in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, fell in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
- Maj. (res.) Akiva Yasinskiy, 35, from Ramat Gan, a soldier in the 8173 Engineering Battalion, the ‘Etzioni’ Brigade (6), who fell in battle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
All six, including Bloom, lost their lives in the same incident in Gaza.
