Three Israel Defense Forces reservists were killed and two other soldiers were seriously wounded when their vehicle hit an explosive device in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, the military announced on Thursday.
The casualties were named as Master Sgt. (res.) Ori Moshe Borenstein, 32, from Moreshet; Master Sgt. (res.) Tzvi Matityahu Marantz, 32, from Bnei Adam; and Maj. (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, 37, from Jerusalem. All three were part of the 5460th support unit of the IDF’s 460th Brigade.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster, the deadly explosion took place shortly after the unit crossed into the coastal enclave to provide logistical assistance to soldiers of the 162nd Division.
Yair Revivo, the mayor of Lod, paid tribute to Borenstein in a statement: “Ori, originally from the community of Moreshet, studied at the ‘Maoz’ pre-military academy in Lod, and in recent years lived in the Neve Zayit neighborhood while studying mechanical engineering in Ariel.”
Marantz and Hershkovitz both leave behind a wife and three children, according to Channel 12 News. Funerals were scheduled to take place on Thursday night at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery.
IDF announces that three members of the 460th Brigade, Master Sergeant Ori Moshe Borenstein (32), Major Netanel Hershkovitz (37), and Master Sergeant Matityahu Marantz Tzvi (32), fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 10, 2024
🕯️May their memories forever be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/Wyfq06PEIR
War goals remain the same: Destroy Hamas, return hostages
Israeli ground forces entered the Palestinian coastal enclave following a weeks-long air campaign in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks in the northwestern Negev, in which terrorists murdered 1,200 people; wounded thousands; and abducted more than 250 men, women and children and brought them to Gaza—101 who are still there.
Earlier on Thursday, the army announced that an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia killed 12 terrorists, including some who took part in the Oct. 7 assault.
The Jabalia strike targeted a command and control center that was “used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist plots against citizens of the State of Israel and IDF forces, containing many weapons,” the IDF said.
Jerusalem’s war goals are to destroy Hamas’s capabilities in Gaza; ensure that it can not threaten Israel again; and return all captives.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion currently stands at 351, and at 734 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, according to official IDF military data.
Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in the Strip in May.
