The IDF reported on Sunday that 21-year-old Sgt. Shalom Menachem from the West Bank settlement of Bet El was the eighth soldier killed in Rafah during Saturday's deadly explosion. Menachem, who served in the Engineering Corps, had graduated from yeshiva with Yakir Levi and Eliyahu Moshe Zimbalist, who were also killed in the same incident when their APC was hit.
The explosion occurred around 5 a.m. as an engineering unit attached to a Givati Brigade battalion was returning from a night operation to a secured house where forces were stationed.
Menachem is survived by his parents and seven siblings. "The pain is unbearable," said Beit El Mayor Shai Alon. "He died as a hero fighting a war for our survival. Our hearts are with his family."
Menachem had been fighting in Gaza for five months, while his twin brother also serves in a combat unit. His family has deep roots in the settlement, with his grandparents among its founders.
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A Hamas tunnel uncovered in Rafah earlier this month
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The military also reported that 22-year-old Staff Sergeant Tzur Avraham from Modi'in was killed while searching for Hamas tunnel shafts in Rafah. One of the shafts was booby-trapped, resulting in an explosion that killed Avraham and seriously injured a reservist officer deployed to a prisoner interrogation unit.