Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed in action fighting Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza, the military said on Monday night.
The soldiers whose deaths were announced were identified by the IDF as Capt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, from Kiryat Motzkin; Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, from Elazar; and Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, from Talmon. All three served in the Shimshon Battalion 92 of the military’s Kfir Brigade, the announcement noted.
Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center stated, “The Rambam family bows its head and embraces the Atedgi family following the death in Gaza of Capt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, the late son of hospital employee Eti Atedgi. We send our condolences to the family that lost their most precious in the war for Israel’s security. May they know no more sorrow.”
On Sunday, the military announced that forces of the Kfir Brigade had expanded its operations against the Hamas resurgence in Gaza’s north to the Beit Hanun area after wrapping up a raid in nearby Beit Lahiya.
Last week, two IDF soldiers were killed by terrorists during counter-terrorism operations in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip.
The military death toll in Gaza since the start of the ground operation on Oct. 27, 2023—nearly three weeks to the day of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023—now stands at 389, while the official figure for all fronts since Oct. 7 is 821.
Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Israel 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 there in May.
