4 Israeli Soldiers Killed by Roadside Bomb in Rafah as Ground Push Expands By The Media Line Staff The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said four soldiers were killed and three wounded on Thursday morning in Rafah, southern Gaza, when a Humvee struck an improvised explosive device during a route-clearance operation. The blast occurred in the […]
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The Media Line: 4 Israeli Soldiers Killed by Roadside Bomb in Rafah as Ground Push Expands
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4 Israeli Soldiers Killed by Roadside Bomb in Rafah as Ground Push Expands
By The Media Line Staff
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said four soldiers were killed and three wounded on Thursday morning in Rafah, southern Gaza, when a Humvee struck an improvised explosive device during a route-clearance operation. The blast occurred in the Jenina neighborhood as a D9 armored bulldozer cleared the road with two Humvees following; one vehicle moved to the roadside and detonated the device, according to an initial military probe.
The IDF identified the dead as Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26; Lt. Eran Shelem, 23; Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, 22; and Lt. Ron Arieli, 20. All served in the Bahad 1 officers’ school’s Dekel Battalion. Ben Moshe was a company commander; the other three were cadets who were posthumously promoted. Before the course, Ben Moshe commanded in the Paratroopers Brigade; Shelem served in Sayeret Matkal; Ben Itzhak in the Commando Brigade; and Arieli in the Golani Brigade.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said forces “are still operating in the Jenina neighborhood and destroying terror infrastructure,” adding that “there are still underground infrastructures in the area that have yet to be destroyed.” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said earlier this week that “our aim is to deepen the blows to Hamas until its defeat.”
The deaths were the first Israeli fatalities in Gaza in 10 days and brought the toll in the ground campaign in Gaza and along the Strip’s perimeter to 469, a figure that includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors, the military said. The IDF launched a major ground push in Gaza City at the start of the week after weeks of preparation, part of a broader effort to dismantle Hamas’s remaining defenses.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and abducting 251. Israel says 47 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 25 confirmed dead. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports more than 65,000 dead or presumed dead in the Strip; the tally cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed more than 22,000 combatants and argues that Hamas fights from civilian areas, using residents as human shields.