Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded—two of them seriously—in a coordinated roadside bombing and ambush by Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the military said Tuesday.
According to a preliminary IDF investigation, troops from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade were advancing on foot through a combat zone near Israeli tanks and engineering vehicles when a series of four to five explosive devices detonated in close succession. The explosives had likely been planted in the two days leading up to the incident, after Israeli forces launched a renewed ground assault in the area on Saturday night. As rescue teams moved in to evacuate the wounded, they came under heavy fire in what the IDF described as a well-prepared ambush by Hamas, which had studied troop movements and booby-trapped key access points accordingly.
The five soldiers killed in the attack were identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin, 28, from Haifa; Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, 20, from Jerusalem; Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, 20, from Jerusalem; Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, 20, from Jerusalem; and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, 21, from Beit Shemesh. Asulin, a reservist from the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, had joined the active force for the operation, while the other four were all serving in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.
The deadly incident took place around 10 p.m. Monday in an area close to the Israeli border that has seen repeated military activity since the start of the ground operation in late 2023. The Netzah Yehuda unit had entered Beit Hanoun as part of a broader offensive led by a combined force from the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade and the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, targeting a fortified Hamas compound on the town’s outskirts. The area had been hit by airstrikes and artillery throughout the preceding week.
This was the battalion’s deadliest incident since the war began. Prior to Monday, four of its soldiers had been killed in Gaza, including three in a roadside bombing in May. The deaths bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the war to 888, with 446 of them during the ground campaign in Gaza. Thirty-nine have been killed since the last hostage deal.
The blast was the worst loss of Israeli life in Gaza since June, when eight soldiers were killed in Rafah by an anti-tank missile. It follows another deadly incident two weeks ago in Khan Younis, where seven troops, including an engineering officer, were killed in a bombing of an armored vehicle.
The attack triggered an outpouring of grief across the country. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion mourned the three fallen soldiers from the city, saying, “Children who grew up in our streets became brave warriors—and did not return. The city embraces their families and will never forget them.”
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Noam Musgadian’s brother Roi posted a message online, describing his younger sibling as “a righteous and holy soul” who always wore a smile and took on responsibility beyond his years. “Noam wasn’t just my little brother—he was my big brother in spirit,” he wrote. “He cared for us all.” One of the wounded, Yedidya Buskowitz, said in a message from his hospital bed that the evacuation took place under heavy fire. “My friends were killed. I was hit by shrapnel. We will not break. Netzah Yehuda is a battalion of heroes.”
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In Haifa, Mayor Yona Yahav paid tribute to Asulin, calling him “a young man full of dreams who paused his life to defend his country.” In Beit Shemesh, Mayor Shmuel Greenberg described Moshe Noll as “a model of courage and devotion,” and said the entire city was mourning with his family.
The Netzah Yehuda Association, which supports Haredi soldiers and veterans, said the battalion had only recently begun this latest deployment in Gaza. “They are among the most experienced ground forces in northern Gaza,” the group said in a statement. “Alongside many operational successes, the unit has also paid a heavy price.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from Washington, said, “This is a difficult morning. The people of Israel bow their heads and grieve for our fallen heroes, who gave their lives in the struggle to defeat Hamas and bring our hostages home.” Defense Minister Israel Katz added that the five soldiers “fought bravely and sacrificed everything to protect Israeli citizens and secure the return of our brothers and sisters.”