From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 7, 2023
War cabinet minister, ex-IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot’s son killed in Gaza, along with 2nd soldier
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF announces the deaths of two reserves soldiers during fighting in the Gaza Strip, bringing the toll of slain soldiers in the ground offensive to 89.
The first is Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, of the 551st Brigade’s 699th Battalion, from Herzliya. He is the son of former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot, a minister in the current emergency government on behalf of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, is an observer on the high-level war cabinet leading the decision-making in the Gaza campaign.
Eisenkot received the news while touring the IDF’s Southern Command alongside Gantz earlier today.
Gal Eisenkot was killed after a bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft near soldiers in the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. He was rushed in grave condition to a hospital in Israel, where he died of his injuries.
The second soldier killed is Sgt. Maj. (res.) Jonathan David Deitch, 34, of the 55th Brigade’s 6623rd Reconnaissance Battalion, from Harish. He was killed in a firefight in the Strip’s south.
