Last night (Saturday) in a press conference, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, “This is a difficult evening.
Tonight we delivered the hardest news to the families of eight IDF soldiers who fell in action in Gaza. Captain Wassem Mahmoud, Deputy Company Commander, and seven of his soldiers fell early this morning during an operation in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah. In the early morning, with the completion of the operation on the northwestern part of the area, infantry, armored and engineering troops from the 401st Brigade entered the area in convoys of armored fighting vehicles in order to position themselves in the contact lines. According to the information we have at this stage, a powerful explosion occurred in one of the engineering vehicles in the convoy, seemingly caused by an explosive device planted in the area or as a result of anti-tank missile fire. Inside the armored vehicle were the eight soldiers who were killed.
Following this difficult incident, a team of experts from the Ministry of Defense and the IDF will examine the armored vehicle and all the details of the incident until we reach findings.
IDF representatives delivered the hard news to the families, and are currently with them at this difficult time.
After delivering the official notices to the bereaved families, we will allow the names of the additional fallen soldiers to be published. We are aware of the fact that there are accounts on social media that publish names before official confirmation from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. I am asking you in this difficult time, to preserve the honor of the fallen and not to publish names until an official announcement is made on the matter. Please respect the bereaved families, our first commitment in the IDF is to them, and we will not deviate from this principle.
IDF troops are making progress in the defeat of the Hamas military wing, focusing on dismantling the Rafah Brigade’s capabilities. The troops on the ground eliminate many terrorists every day in combat, destroy weapons, launchers and rockets and thus prevent Hamas’s ability to return to action against the citizens of the State of Israel as happened on October 7th. Today we received an additional painful reminder of the price of war and that behind the achievements of the war stand brave soldiers, heroes, who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the State of Israel, that is the common home for all of us – Jews, Druze, Bedouins, Muslims and Christians – all citizens of Israel.
Our hearts, our thoughts, are with the families at this difficult time.”
