The IDF on Sunday named eight soldiers who died in battles across the Gaza Strip. They are Master Sergeant (res.) Nadav Issachar Farhi, 30, an 11th Brigade combat medic, from Herzliya; Master Sergeant (res.) Eliyahu Meir Ohana, 28, an 11th Brigade combat soldier, from Haifa; Sergeant First Class (res.) Elyassaf Shoshan, 23, a 646th Reserve Paratrooper Brigade soldier, from Jerusalem; Sergeant First Class (res.) Ohad Ashur, 23, a 646th Reserve Paratrooper Brigade soldier from Kfar Yona.
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Staff Sergeant David Bogdanovskyi, 19, a soldier of the 7th Armored Brigade's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, from Haifa; Staff Sergeant Orel Bashan, 20, a soldier of the 7th Armored Brigade's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, from Haifa; Staff Sergeant Itamar Shemen, 21, a 36th Division paramedic who was fighting with the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, from Lapid; Staff Sergeant Gal Hershko, 20, a squad commander in the 7th Armored Brigade's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, from Yiftach.
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Staff Sergeant Gal Hershko, Staff Sergeant Orel Bashan, Sergeant First Class (res.) Ohad Ashur, Master Sergeant (res.) Eliyahu Ohana, Staff Sergeant Itamar Shemen, Sergeant First Class (res.) Elyassaf Shoshan, Staff Sergeant David Bogdanovskyi, Master Sergeant (res.) Nadav Issachar Farhi
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
An RPG anti-tank missile hit a Namer combat engineering vehicle from the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, causing additional explosions, possibly due to the detonation of explosives within it. As a result, Staff Sergeant Bogdanovskyi, Staff Sergeant Bashan, Staff Sergeant Hershko and Staff Sergeant Shemen were killed.
Sergeant First Class (res.) Shoshan and Sergeant First Class (res.) Ashur of the 6646th Battalion participated in an operation to expand the Nuseirat corridor, bisecting the Gaza Strip from north to south.
A Hummer carrying the two triggered a roadside bomb, suspected to have been activated by terrorists emerging from a tunnel beside the road. The IDF does not yet know if the terrorists were killed in the subsequent clash. The light and unprotected vehicle is the second to be fatally hit by terrorist fire in the Gaza Strip in the past week.
The IDF is reevaluating the use of unarmored vehicles in the Gaza Strip, even on logistical routes considered to be more secure. In the territory, there are hundreds of various types of unarmored IDF vehicles in areas captured by the IDF, including vans, trucks and Sufas.
Additionally, Master Sergeant (res.) Farhi and Master Sergeant (res.) Ohana were killed in an explosion in a booby-trapped building where terrorists were taking shelter.
Six more soldiers were seriously wounded in the various battles. Their families were informed.
Since the beginning of ground operations in the Gaza Strip, 152 IDF soldiers and officers have been killed, 13 of them over the weekend alone. Since the start of the war on October 7, 485 Israeli soldiers have fallen.
The announcement comes just hours after the army identified five more soldiers were who fell in action in the Gaza Strip.
They are Staff Sergeant Nir Rafael Kananian, 20, a Givati Brigade soldier, from Beit Keshet; Staff Sergeant Birhanu Kassie, 22, a Givati Brigade soldier, from Beit Shemesh; Master Sergeant (res.) Shay Termin, 26, a 55th Paratroopers Brigade soldier, from Rosh Pina; Warrant Officer (res.) Alexander Shpits, 41, a 55th Paratroopers Brigade soldier, from Karmiel; Captain Oshri Moshe Butzhak, 22, a platoon commander in the 933rd Infantry Brigade, from Haifa.
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Captain Oshri Moshe Butzhak, Master Sergeant (res.) Shay Termin, Staff Sergeant Birhanu Kassie, Warrant Officer (res.) Alexander Shpits, Staff Sergeant Nir Rafael Kananian
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Staff Sergeant Kananian and Staff Sergeant Kassie were killed by an explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip. In the same battle, five Israeli servicemembers were seriously wounded and another five sustained injuries to varying degrees.
Master Sergeant (res.) Termin and Warrant Officer (res.) Shpits were killed in a separate battle in the southern Gaza Strip. Captain Butzhak was killed in a clash with terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip.