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Soldier killed in Golan Heights, bringing IDF wartime toll to 851

Two additional paratroopers were injured in the crash.

Niv Dayag
IDF Sgt. Niv Dayag, 19, died during operational activity in the Golan Heights, May 1, 2025. Credit: Israel Defense Forces.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier died in a car accident on Thursday during operational activity in the Golan Heights, the military said on Friday.

Sgt. Niv Dayag, 19, from Ramat Hasharon, served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion.

During the crash, two additional soldiers in the 890th Battalion and a soldier in the 474th Brigade were lightly injured. They were evacuated to the hospital and their families have been notified.

The circumstances of the incident are under review.

Last Friday, an IDF soldier and a Border Police officer were killed in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. The soldier was identified as Capt. Ido Voloch, 21, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander in the 46th Battalion of the 401st “Iron Trails” Brigade. The Border Police officer was named as Sgt. Netta Yitzhak Kahana, an operative in the Yamas Undercover Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Israel Police’s Southern District.

According to the IDF, Voloch was killed during an operation to rescue wounded soldiers under heavy fire. Kahana died in the same battle, the Israel Police reported.

The previous day, Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, 26, a tank driver in the IDF 14th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 79th Battalion, was killed in Gaza.

Eight hundred and fifty-one Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev, including 412 during the ground campaign in the Strip. Additionally, 67 Israel Police officers have been killed in the line of duty during the same period, as reported by the Israel Police.

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