5 IDF soldiers killed, 14 injured by roadside bombs in northern Gaza

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded by roadside bombs in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday night, the military announced on Tuesday morning.

The slain soldiers were named as:

• Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, 20, from Jerusalem
• Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, 20, from Jerusalem.
• Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, 20, from Jerusalem.
• Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, 21, from Beit Shemesh.
• Sgt. First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin, 28, from Haifa.

Amar, Frech, Musgadian, and Noll served in the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Asulin served in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade. Among the 14 wounded, two of the troops were listed in serious condition.

According to an IDF probe, the infantry soldiers were hit by three bombs remotely detonated one after another by Hamas operatives on the side of a road during ground operations in Beit Hanoun. The soldiers were operating on foot and were not inside a vehicle.

The investigation found that most of the troops were hurt by the first and second bombs, which were detonated within a few moments of each other. The first bomb hit several soldiers, and the troops that rushed to help them were hit by the second bomb.

As the third bomb was detonated, a cell of Hamas operatives opened fire with light arms on the Israeli troops. The military believes the bombs were planted by the Hamas cell during the preceding 24 hours.

The military said the area where the attack took place was also targeted from the air ahead of the troops’ operations.

Following the attack, the IDF dispatched Israeli Air Force drones, helicopters and fighter jets to the area to prevent any potential attempts by Hamas to abduct the soldiers. Within an hour and a half, the incident was considered over, the military said.

The Netzah Yehuda soldiers were operating under the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade as part of a fresh offensive with the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade in Beit Hanoun, which began on Saturday, aimed at clearing the area of terror operatives who remain holed up there.

The IDF has operated in Beit Hanoun — located on the northern edge of Gaza, just across from the border city of Sderot — numerous times since the start of the war, capturing the town but withdrawing each time after several weeks.

Israeli officials have said the latest offensive in Gaza would see the IDF hold onto the territory. Currently, the military is in control of some 70% of the Strip’s territory, according to the army.

Netzah Yehuda is made up mostly of ultra-Orthodox soldiers and was set up in 1999 to accommodate the religious lifestyle of Haredim and other national-religious recruits in the army.

Reacting to the deadly incident while on his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “On this difficult morning, the entire people of Israel bow their heads and mourn the deaths of our heroic fighters, who sacrificed their lives in the campaign to defeat Hamas and free all of our hostages. We embrace the families who lost their loved ones, and pray for the full recovery of those wounded in the incident.”

The majority of soldiers killed during fighting in Gaza in recent months were hit by explosive devices, many of which were planted in buildings or on the side of roads. Seven combat engineering soldiers were killed in Khan Younis on June 24, when a Hamas operative threw an explosive device into their armored personnel carrier.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 449.

The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed 251 were taken hostage.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 57,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.