An IDF officer and soldier from the Golani Brigade's elite reconnaissance unit were killed Saturday in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, when an explosive device was detonated against a Namer armored personnel carrier (APC), the military said Sunday morning.
The two fallen servicemen were identified as Capt. Amir Saad, 22, from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, a technology and maintenance officer in Golani reconnaissance unit, and Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, from Kiryat Tivon, a technology and maintenance soldier in the same unit. A third officer was moderately wounded in the incident, which set the armored vehicle on fire.
Their deaths bring the number of Israeli troops killed since the start of the war to 898. Eighteen soldiers have died so far in July.
Capt. Saad was the cousin of Lt. Col. Alim Abdallah, former deputy commander of the 300th Brigade, who was killed on Oct. 9, 2023, during a clash with infiltrating terrorists from Lebanon on the war’s third day.
Separately, the IDF said Sunday that a reservist who had been critically wounded last week in Gaza succumbed to his injuries. Sgt. Major (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, 32, from Or Yehuda, served as a combat engineer in the 828nd Brigade's 749th Battalion. He was wounded when his military Humvee hit an explosive device in Khan Younis.
Another reservist, a combat engineering officer from the 179th Division's 710th Battalion, was also seriously wounded in the same incident.
Mosbacher, who worked for the Israel Electric Corporation, is survived by his wife Maayan and their young daughter.
Fierce battles in Khan Younis as IDF shifts focus to defense
Heavy fighting continued over the weekend in Khan Younis, Gaza’s largest city by area, which has become the focal point of Israel’s military operations in the territory. Despite the intensity of the clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists, many of the group’s strongholds in the city remain untouched, mirroring earlier challenges the IDF faced in northern Gaza.
The 36th Division has been operating in Khan Younis with just three brigade-level battle teams since the regular Paratroopers Brigade withdrew last week to the West Bank due to reserve force constraints.
As the campaign stretches on, Israeli forces are increasingly focused on defensive maneuvers rather than offensive operations against Hamas targets. The shift contrasts with current operations by the Kfir Brigade in the city’s densely populated core.
The strategic shift stems in part from the opening of over 20 kilometers of new combat routes through the city, including the newly established Magen Oz Corridor in addition to the preexisting Morag Corridor.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
The IDF’s two primary tasks in Khan Younis now include securing those corridors with temporary outposts and leveling hundreds of buildings on both sides of the routes—up to 300 to 400 meters in each direction—to eliminate threats to the troops.
Combat engineers tasked with demolishing these structures are protected by infantry and armored units in grinding day-to-day operations. Simultaneously, other soldiers are engaged in securing the paths for tens of thousands of Gazans who surge daily toward food distribution centers. That security effort requires troops to patrol closely and frequently fire warning shots at civilians who veer outside designated zones, with the crowds approaching within just a few hundred feet of Israeli positions.
Despite these efforts, several major objectives remain. These include retaking the upscale Qatari-funded Hamad neighborhood in western Khan Younis, clearing the nearby refugee camp, and confronting the most complex target: Hamas’s “city within a city” in the Al-Mawasi area. That densely packed coastal zone between Deir al-Balah and the ruins of Rafah now houses an estimated 800,000 displaced people—alongside thousands of Hamas operatives and commanders.
A breakdown in hostage deal negotiations could trigger a large-scale, two-division assault on these remaining Hamas strongholds, a campaign that, once launched, could span months and prove difficult—if not impossible—to halt.