IDF officer hurt by mortar fire dies
Lieutenant (res.) Boris Yarmulnik, 28, was critically wounded in mortar attack on Eshkol Regional Council on last day of Operation Pillar of Defense
Cleared for publication: Lieutenant (res.) Boris Yarmulnik, 28, who sustained critical injuries in Wednesday's mortar attack on the Eshkol Regional Council, has died of his wounds at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
Three other soldiers and two civilians were lightly injured in the incident.
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Yarmulnik will be laid to rest Friday at 11 am at a military cemetery in Netanya's Bnei Tzion neighborhood.
Eyewitnesses said that during the attack he took cover inside or near an armored vehicle and was hit by shrapnel.
During the past few years Yarmulnik, who made aliyah in 1993 from Ukraine with his family, studied physics at Tel Aviv University. He received an emergency call-up order on Friday and served as munitions officer in his reserves unit.
The death of Yarmulnik, a resident of Netanya, brings the total number of Israelis killed during the eight days of Operation Pillar of Defense to six.
On Tuesday 18-year-old IDF soldier Yosef Partuk and Alian Salem, from the Bedouin village of Rejwan in the Negev, were killed in two separate rocket and mortar attacks on the Eshkol Regional Council.
On the second day of the operation, which was aimed at quelling the rocket fire from Gaza, a Grad rocket that hit a building in Kiryat Malachi killed Itzik Amsalem (25), Aharon Smadja (50) and Mira Scharf (25).
Earlier on Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said that the army had struck every possible terror target in Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defense.
According to Gantz, the IDF attacked "everything that moves in the Strip," referring to "terror infrastructure, tunnels… weapons caches, launching sites and strategic facilities."
Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Police Chief Yohanan Danino to discuss the past week's events.
In a press conference held prior to the meeting, the prime minister thanked the police, fire department and Home Front Command for their hard work.
"The home front operated in an excellent manner, contrary to what our enemies expected," he said. "The home front maintained control, restraint and mental strength."
Netanyahu further said the Israel made great achievements in the offensive.
"The IDF dealt a heavy blow to Hamas and the other terror groups," he said. "Many of the terror leaders were killed and thousands of missiles were destroyed. We are ready to take action if the truce is violated. The goals we have set for the operation were met."
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