Four Israeli soldiers were killed Monday when their Humvee struck a roadside bomb during a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the army said.
The dead were identified as Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26, of Tzafria; Lt. Ron Arieli, 20, of Hadera; Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, 22, of Har Bracha; and Lt. Eran Shelem, 23, of Kibbutz Ramat Yochanan. Another soldier was critically wounded and two others were moderately injured.
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Lt. Eran Shelem, Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, Lt. Ron Arieli, Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe
(Photo: IDF)
The army said the blast occurred around 9:15 a.m. in Rafah’s Jneina neighborhood as troops cleared suspected militant hideouts. An armored D9 bulldozer was leading the way, followed by two Humvees, when one of the vehicles triggered the device.
Military officials said the unit had already engaged in three encounters with militants earlier in the morning. They are investigating whether a Hamas sniper fired at the troops before the explosion.
The soldiers were members of the Dekel Battalion of the officers’ training school, known as Bahad 1, which has been operating in Gaza for the past three weeks. Ben Moshe served as a company commander in the battalion and previously in the Paratroopers Brigade. Arieli, Ben Itzhak and Shelem were cadets who had served in the Golani Brigade, the Commando Brigade and the elite Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance unit.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the army spokesperson, said the 261st Brigade, which includes the officers’ school, “has fought heroically throughout the war” and was struck during its mission in Rafah. He said Hamas still maintains tunnel networks in the area and that Israeli forces are continuing to dismantle them.
Relatives said Arieli was killed on his birthday, which he had planned to celebrate later with his family. Ben Itzhak, who married three months ago, was described by community leaders in Har Bracha as “a man of faith and a frontline fighter.” Shelem, the grandson of a celebrated paratrooper commander, was mourned in his home community of Ramat Yochanan.