The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit has released the names of five soldiers killed in the APC explosion in Rafah today:
- Sergeant Elyahu Moshe Shlomo Zimbalist, 21, from Beit Shemesh.
- Sergeant Itay Amar, 19, from Kokhav Ya’ir–Tzur Yig’al.
- Staff Sergeant Stanislav Kostarev, 21, from Ashdod.
- Staff Sergeant Orr Blumovitz, 20, from Pardes Hanna-Karkur.
- Staff Sergeant Oz Yeshaia Gruber, 20, from Tal Menashe. All were members of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion.
Saturday night saw the revelation that one of the eight IDF soldiers killed in Rafah was Captain Wassem Mahmoud, 23, from Beit Jann. Mahmoud, a deputy company commander in Engineering Battalion 601, was in command of the APC when it caught fire.
On Sunday morning, the IDF also disclosed that Captain Eitan Koplovich, 28, from Jerusalem, and Senior Staff Sergeant Major Elon Waiss, 49, from Psagot, fell in combat in the northern Gaza Strip. Both served in the 129th Armored Battalion of the 8th Armored Brigade. Two soldiers sustained serious injuries in the incident involving Koplovich and Waiss and were taken to a hospital, with their families informed.
The preliminary investigation into the incident is exploring two possibilities: either an anti-tank missile struck the APC, or it hit a potent explosive device, causing the explosives and mines onboard to detonate.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari commented tonight, “Tonight we delivered the hardest news to the families of eight IDF soldiers who fell in action in Gaza.”
He explained, “In the early morning, following the completion of the operation in the northwestern part of the area, infantry, armored, and engineering troops from the 401st Brigade entered the region in convoys of armored fighting vehicles to position themselves on the contact lines. Based on the information we have at this stage, a powerful explosion occurred in one of the engineering vehicles in the convoy, likely caused by an explosive device planted in the area or an anti-tank missile. Inside the armored vehicle were the eight soldiers who were killed.”
Hagari added, “Following this difficult incident, a team of experts from the Ministry of Defense and the IDF will examine the armored vehicle and all the details of the incident until we reach findings.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
