IDF reservist injured in Hamas attack in southern Gaza succumbs to wounds

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Asael Babad was severely hurt in October in Rafah during ceasefire; two other troops were killed in same incident

By Emanuel Fabian

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22 January 2026, 2:10 pm

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Asael Babad, who died on January 22, 2026, after being wounded in a Hamas attack on October 19, 2025 in southern Gaza's Rafah. (Israel Defense Forces)

An Israel Defense Forces reservist wounded in a Hamas attack in the southern Gaza Strip in October 2025 succumbed to his wounds overnight, the military said Thursday.

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Asael Babad, 38, an infantryman with the Menashe Regional Brigade’s 941st Battalion, from the West Bank settlement of Bnei Adam, was seriously injured when Palestinian terror operatives attacked soldiers in Rafah on October 19, less than a week into a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Babad was serving with the Gaza Division as a heavy machinery operator.

According to an IDF probe, the cell of gunmen emerged from a tunnel on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line and fired RPGs at an army excavator, killing two troops of the Nahal Brigade.

At the same time, another excavator was hit by sniper fire, wounding two more troops, one seriously and one moderately. Another soldier was moderately wounded by sniper fire a short while later, according to the initial investigation.

Babad’s death brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 477.

According to his local council, Babad is survived by his wife and five children. He was slated to be buried on Thursday afternoon in Jerusalem.

Illustrative: IDF troops are seen in southern Gaza’s Rafah, November 23, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

In response to the attack in October, the first deadly incident for the IDF since the start of the ceasefire, the Israeli Air Force launched a wave of strikes against Hamas targets, including a tunnel system previously used by the terror group to hold hostages. The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense agency said that the strikes killed at least 21 people across the territory.

The ceasefire brought about a partial Israeli military withdrawal, leaving Israeli forces holding about 53 percent of the enclave.

Israel and Hamas have traded blame for multiple breaches of the truce after two years of war in Gaza, and remain at odds over the next steps in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

More than 460 Palestinians have reportedly been killed since the ceasefire took effect. Four IDF soldiers — including Babad — have been killed in Hamas attacks during that time.