The IDF reported Friday that Sergeant major Alon Kudriashov, 21, from Modi'in, a soldier in the elite Egoz unit of the Commando Brigade, was killed in action in southern Gaza after an RPG missile struck the building where he was stationed.
It was also reported that six other soldiers from the Egoz unit were seriously injured in the same incident, and another 10 soldiers were injured in various degrees. The injured were evacuated for medical treatment at the hospital, and their families were notified.
The incident occurred around 10:00 this morning when an RPG was fired by a terrorist and hit the upper floor of the building where the Egoz unit was stationed, in a guard post in the Al-Amal neighborhood in western Khan Younis. As a result of the explosion and the collapse of the walls in the building, 17 soldiers were injured - six severely, five moderately, and five lightly - and Alon Kudriashov was killed.
A complex and swift rescue operation led by Unit 669 and Israeli Air Force rescue helicopters evacuated the wounded to the hospital within 55 minutes of the explosion. The rescue operation was secured by Golani fighters and IAF aircraft that isolated the area. Life-saving surgeries were performed on some of the severely injured soldiers.
In the area where the unit has been operating in recent days, primarily around the Nasser Hospital, there has already been at least one encounter when a terrorist was identified approaching the area on Thursday and was neutralized by IDF security forces. Egoz soldiers arrested around 20 Hamas wanted individuals in the neighborhood, whose investigation led to the discovery of numerous terror plots this week, despite the IDF already being active in the area. One of the plots uncovered a large cache of dozens of powerful explosives.