Paratroopers Brigade Sergeant Rotem Sahar-Hadar, 20, of Kfar Aviv, was killed during a battle with terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip. Nine other soldiers were injured in the incident, including two soldiers and an officer from the brigade whose condition is described as serious.
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Some 571 IDF soldiers have been killed since October 7, 234 of them since the start of the Gaza ground invasion.
Sahar-Hadar's family members spoke of "a boy with a beautiful appearance and a beautiful heart." He is the oldest son of Liat and Eyal, and a "wonderful" brother to Shaked, Sinai, Carmel and Shahaf.
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Paratroopers Brigade Sergeant Rotem Sahar-Hadar, 20, of Kfar Aviv
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
His family said that he was a "faithful friend, funny and full of joy in life, an athlete, an instructor in the Scouts movement, a graduate of Brenner High School, and a gifted guitar and piano player, who loved the country and traveling in it." They said that he volunteered to serve with the paratroopers, and fought in the Gaza envelope communities on October 7, and then served in Gaza as the commander of a medical squadron in the brigade.
On Tuesday, the names of three additional reservist soldiers killed in Gaza from the 630th Brigade were released: Lieutenant colonel (res.) Netanel Yaacov Elkouby, 36, from Haifa, the commander of Battalion 630, and two of his soldiers - Major (res.) Yair Cohen, 30, from Ramat Gan; and Sergeant first class (res.) Ziv Chen, 27, of Kfar Saba. The three soldiers were killed by an explosive device that detonated in a booby-trapped building in the Khan Younis area, which was suspected to have a tunnel shaft in it.
Ze'ev Katz, the commander of the battalion before Elkouby, paid tribute to the three in a post on Facebook: "My beloved 630 Battalion, what a cursed and black day. How did did this happen to three of our. Nati Elkouby, you replaced me in command of the battalion and very quickly it already became 'Nati's battalion'. I saw from the side how you were raising up the battalion and I was so happy that I chose you to replace me. I knew you would succeed."
"And here, precisely now, a few days before your release from reserve duty, you fell at the end of a quality mission that you wanted so much," Katz wrote. "You were an excellent officer, you quickly stood out above everyone else. The brigade took a hard hit, but you built a strong regiment. I'm sure you will forever remain a part of the regiment's legacy. With great love and admiration."