IDF toll rises to 40 as four more fatalities named

Newest combat victims identified as Lt. Roy Peles, Ssgt. Avraham Grintzvaig, Ssgt. Gal Bason and Ssgt. Amit Yauri

By ToI Staff 26 July 2014, 5:40 pm

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Three IDF soldiers killed Saturday, July 26, from left to right: Roy Peles, Avraham Grintzvaig, Gal Bason (Photo credit: Courtesy IDF)

The IDF announced early Saturday evening that three soldiers had been killed in the Gaza Strip during the day, bringing the death toll during Operation Protective Edge to 40.

The soldiers were Lt. Roy Peles, 21, of Tel Aviv, killed when an armored vehicle was hit by militant fire; Ssgt. Avraham Grintzvaig, 21, of Petah Tikva, killed in a firefight in the northern Gaza Strip; Ssgt. Gal Bason, 21, of Holon, also killed in northern Gaza.

The military also released the name of the second of two soldiers killed Friday overnight in Gaza. He was Amit Yeori, 20, from Jerusalem.

Earlier the IDF had said that two soldiers were killed overnight, giving the name of one as Guy Boyland, 21 years old from Ginosar.

Ssgt. Amit Yeori, killed Friday night in the Gaza Strip (Photo credit: Courtesy IDF)

Boyland will be laid to rest on Sunday afternoon at the military cemetery in Kibbutz Ginosar.

On Friday the military had announced the deaths of two soldiers: Master Sgt. Yair Ashkenazy and Staff Sgt. Guy Levy.

Staff Sgt. Guy Boyland, killed on July 25 in Gaza (Photo credit: Courtesy)

Levy was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from near a UN school, the IDF said. Mortar shells and anti-tank missiles were fired “from a structure near an UNRWA school,” the IDF said, killing Levy and injuring several others.

Ashkenazy, 36, was killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip, possibly by friendly fire. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Staff Sgt. Guy Levy, killed in Gaza on Friday, July 25, 2014 (Photo credit: Courtesy)

Master Sergeant Yair Ashkenazy, 36, was killed in combat on Friday, July 25, 2014 (photo credit: courtesy of Ashkenazy family)

The military also said Friday that Sgt. Oron Shaul, previously declared Missing in Action and claimed by Hamas to have been kidnapped, was killed in the Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya on July 13, during a bloody battle in which six other IDF troops died as well. The missing soldier’s remains have not been found, but a special IDF ethics committee ruled that sufficient evidence exists to determine that Shaul was killed in the attack.

IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz notified the soldier’s family that Shaul was designated a fallen soldier “whose place of burial is unknown.” This means a funeral will not be held at this time.

Sgt. Oron Shaul, whose death in Gaza on July 20 was formally confirmed by the IDF on July 25 (Photo credit: Courtesy)

Racheli Gazit, speaking on behalf of the family on Friday afternoon, said the family was “still grappling with the news” and would not say that they accepted it.

Hitherto, the family had stated that they considered Shaul to be alive.