Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Elah, 32, from the town of Gan Yavne, commander of the 52nd Battalion in the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps, was moderately injured on Sunday during combat in Rafah. Footage captured before his evacuation from the Gaza Strip revealed his determined message: "Keep fighting, kick their butts, I'll finish up at the hospital and come back to you."
In January, Ynet reporter Einav Halabi met Elah near Jabaliya. He shared that his wife also has a military career and supports him from home, allowing him to continue the fight. He joined the ground operation in the early days of the conflict and has rarely returned home since then.
Elah recalled that, during the week, he and his fellow fighters began the "systematic destruction" of Hamas' rocket capabilities. "These are what you know as the rockets and mortars fired at our country," he explained. "We are assigned a geographical area with intelligence on rockets that have been or will be launched. We arrive, conquer the area, and aim to destroy this capability."
Lt. Col. Elah before his evacuation
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF announced that Major Jalaa Ibrahim, 25, from Sajur, was killed by an anti-tank missile in Rafah. He was a company commander in the 601st Engineering Battalion. He leaves behind a mother and 12 siblings, many of whom hold significant security roles. Ibrahim was the fourth brother in the family to serve in the Engineering Corps.