The IDF reported on Friday that Captain Yarden Zakay, 21, from Hadera, a platoon commander in the Givati Brigade's Shaked Battalion, succumbed to his injuries after being severely wounded during combat in southern Gaza on September 17, 2024.
Medical staff fought to save Zakay’s life for about a month and a half. Other soldiers fell in the same incident including Captain Daniel Mimon Toaff, Staff Sergeant Dotan Shimon, Staff Sergeant Amit Bakri and Staff Sergeant Agam Naim, who was the first female soldier to die while fighting in Gaza.
Hadera Mayor Nir Ben Haim mourned Zakay’s loss on Friday, saying, "After two months in which he continued fighting for his life and all of Israel prayed for his recovery, Yarden, our city’s son, is no longer with us. There are no words to comfort us; the entire city grieves."
As part of the 401st Armored Brigade operation, soldiers were conducting searches for weapons in a building in the Tel Sultan neighborhood. For reasons still under investigation, a deadly explosion occurred. A helicopter evacuated the wounded, including five soldiers in serious condition and two others in moderate condition, to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.
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