Master Sgt. Gal Meir Eisenkot, the son of former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, was killed Thursday while fighting in the Gaza Strip, the military said. He was 25.
Eisenkot, a reserve combat medic, had previously completed his compulsory military service in Maglan, an elite special operations unit. The military also announced the deaths of four other soldiers killed in Gaza.
According to the military, Eisenkot’s unit identified a tunnel shaft on the outskirts of Shijaiyah, a neighborhood in Gaza City. As the troops approached the shaft, an explosion critically wounded Eisenkot. He was evacuated to a hospital, where he later died of his wounds.
His father, Gadi Eisenkot, was IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and a member of the emergency government’s war Cabinet and a senior figure in Benny Gantz’s National Unity party.
Gadi Eisenkot was visiting military commanders in southern Israel with Gantz when he was informed of the incident. He was aware that an explosion had occurred and was told in real time that his son had been critically wounded.
Gadi Eisenkot with his son Gal in 2018
(Photo: IDF)
Gal Eisenkot was one of five children.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed of Eisenkot’s death while visiting northern Israel with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.