IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari addressed Wednesday evening the deaths of 11 Givati Brigade soldiers who were killed by an anti-tank missile strike on their armored personnel carrier in northern Gaza. "This is a very difficult event," he said. "Lives were paid. We are learning lessons even as the war goes on."
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Hagari clarified that "this is not like other incidents that have occurred in the past,” likely alluding to an incident where seven Golani Brigade soldiers were killed after an explosive device detonated beneath their APC during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.
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11 Givati Brigade soldiers who were killed by an anti-tank missile strike on their armored personnel carrier in northern Gaza
“It is distinct, coming after we have drawn lessons,” he continued. “Yet, it requires careful study before we can offer swift and definitive answers. We are engaged in battle and have already gained new insights.
Our commitment to progress is unwavering. We are actively conducting investigations, learning and enhancing our capabilities even as the conflict continues. There are complex operational incidents where the details are still emerging. We are engaged in intricate close-range combat with terrorists."
Although the investigation into the incident is still underway, it has been established that the Trophy active protection system equipped on the advanced and heavily armored vehicle malfunctioned and failed to intercept the missile.
The IDF notes that their carriers' Trophy systems have effectively intercepted a number of anti-tank missiles in recent operations but they also rely on other countermeasures, such as mutual covering fire, operational maneuvering techniques and layers of reactive armor that encase the vehicle, based on the Merkava Mark 4 tank.
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The last photo, from left to right: Roy Saragusti, Roei Dawi, Itay Yehuda, Adi Danan, Halel Solomon, Pdaya Mark, Erez Mishlovsky, Adi Leon, Shay Arvas
Hagari also said that the assassination of Muhammad A'sar, the head of Hamas’s anti-tank missile division in the Gaza Strip, in an Israeli airstrike is “significant and will have an impact on the ongoing situation."
The soldiers who were killed in the APC incident are Staff Sgt. Itay Yehuda, Staff Sgt. Shay Arvas, Sgt. Adi Danan, Sgt. Halel Solomon, Sgt. Erez Mishlovsky, Sgt. Adi Leon, Cpl. Ido Ovadia, Cpl. Lior Siminovich, Sgt. Roei Dawi, Sgt. Pdaya Mark, Sgt. Roy Saragusti. On Wednesday, a shared last photo of many of them together was shared on social media. Of the ten soldiers who appear in the photo, only one is still alive.
Since the start of the ground offensive, the IDF has reported that 16 soldiers have been killed and several others wounded. In addition to the armored personnel carrier incident, Sgt. Roei Wolf and Sgt. Lavi Lifshitz of the Givati Reconnaissance Unit were killed by an RPG that struck the building they were in.
Sergeant First Class (res.) Shalev Zion Sharabi was killed by mortar fire in Be'eri near the Gaza border, and Lt. Ariel Reich and Cpl. Asif Luger, both from the 77th Armored Battalion, were killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip.