A young soldier serving in Israel’s Armored Corps, Sergeant Asaf Zamir, 19, from Dimona, lost his life in the southern Gaza Strip after being struck by an anti-tank missile.
The same attack that claimed Sergeant Zamir’s life also left two members of the 53rd Battalion of the 188th Brigade with critical injuries.
Both injured soldiers were transported to the hospital for emergency care. The total number of fallen Israeli soldiers since the outbreak of the war now stands at 883.
Earlier in the day, authorities released the identity of another soldier who was killed in a separate incident: Sergeant Yair Eliyahou, 19, of Ezer, located in the Be’er Tuvia regional council.
Sergeant Eliyahou died during a military engineering operation in northern Gaza when one armored engineering vehicle plunged into a subterranean pit or cavity and collided with a nearby vehicle. Eliyahou was inside the second vehicle and was fatally wounded by the collision.
Defense Minister Israel Katz expressed grief at the loss of the two soldiers, paying tribute to Sergeant Yair Eliyahou, who served in the northern brigade as a combat engineer, and to Sergeant Asaf Zamir, a tank crewman with Battalion 53. He acknowledged their ultimate sacrifice in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Katz extended sympathies to the mourning families, prayed for the swift healing of those injured, and praised the troops for their valor: “Brave fighters who are acting with courage to return the hostages and defeat the Hamas murderers.”
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu also offered words of comfort to the families of the fallen.
“On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I send heartfelt condolences,” Netanyahu stated. “The entire nation mourns the loss of our soldiers who fought heroically in the battle to defeat Hamas and free our hostages.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
may all of hamas be killed