The Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday evening that four soldiers had been killed in an IED blast in the southern Gaza Strip.
The slain soldiers were identified as IDF Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26, from Moshav Tzafria; Lt. Ron Arieli, 20, from Hadera; Lt. Eran Shelem, 23, from Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan; and Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, 22, from Har Bracha.
Ben Moshe served as a company commander in the “Dekel” Battalion, Officers’ Training School, and was also a company commander in the Paratroopers Brigade, the military said in an official death notice.
Arieli, Shelem and Itzhak were cadets in the “Dekel” Battalion, while also serving in the Golani Brigade, the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) and Commando Brigade, respectively.
Another IDF soldier was seriously wounded, and two others sustained moderate injuries, in the explosion, which reportedly took place in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah, the military announced.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz hailed the four slain troops as “outstanding fighters who fell in battle,” sending “deep condolences” to their families while wishing a speedy recovery to the three soldiers who were wounded.
“The IDF’s heroic fighters are acting with bravery and courage for the security of Israel’s citizens, the return of all the hostages and the defeat of the Hamas terror group,” he said. “I strengthen them and pray for their well-being and success, together with all the Israeli people.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog “embraced the bereaved families whose worlds have been destroyed” on behalf of the entire people, he stated.
“I hope that the year with its terrible curses will end, and the year with its blessings will begin,” the head of state wrote in Hebrew, invoking a traditional wish ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27, 2023, now stands at 464, and at 910 on all fronts since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to official data.
On Sept. 8, four Israeli soldiers fell in the northern Gaza Strip. They were named by the military as Staff-Sgt. Uri Lamed, 20, from Tel Mond; Sgt. Gadi Cotal, 20, from Afikim; Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, 19, from Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut; and Lt. Matan Abramovitz, 21, from Ganei Tikvah.
The slain soldiers were all from the Armored Corps’ 401st Brigade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined his government’s parameters for victory in the war against Hamas in Gaza in an Aug. 14 speech.
The five conditions for victory were listed as the disarmament of Hamas; the return of all 48 remaining hostages; demilitarization; Israeli security control; and building an “alternative civilian administration” in Gaza.
