From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 7, 2024
IDF announces 4 soldiers killed fighting Hamas in southern Gaza
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF announces the deaths of four soldiers who were killed during fighting against Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon.
They are named as:
Cpt. Ido Baruch, 21, a commander at the Commando Brigade’s training base, from Tel Mond.
Sgt. Amitai Even Shoshan, 20, of the Commando Brigade’s training base, from Azri’el.
Sgt. Ilai Zair, 20, of the Commando Brigade’s training base, from Kedar.
Sgt. Reef Harush, 20, of the Commando Brigade’s training base, from Kibbutz Ramat David.
Their deaths bring the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 260.
The four were killed after gunmen who came out of a tunnel in a destroyed building opened fire at troops carrying out a patrol along the IDF’s logistics route in Khan Younis, according to an initial military probe. The operatives apparently managed to flee back into the tunnel.
A tank with the soldiers came under RPG fire by another cell in the area, though there were no injuries in that attack. The tank returned fire, killing members of the second cell, according to the IDF’s probe.
