Reservist succumbs to wounds sustained in accidental grenade blast in Gaza this week

IDF has established panel of experts led by a colonel to examine incident, in which Master Sgt. (res.) Shmuel Gad Rahamim was killed, with 2 other troops hurt

By Emanuel Fabian

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11 October 2025, 9:54 pm

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

Master Sgt. (res.) Shmuel Gad Rahamim. (Israel Defense Forces)

A reservist soldier who was seriously wounded in an accidental grenade blast in the southern Gaza Strip earlier in the week succumbed to his wounds over the weekend, the military announced Saturday evening.

He was named as Master Sgt. (res.) Shmuel Gad Rahamim, 31, of the Southern Brigade’s 7015th Battalion, from Givat Ze’ev.

The incident took place at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday at an IDF post in the Khan Younis area.

Inside a room where soldiers were residing and sleeping, a grenade exploded due to unclear circumstances.

In addition to Rahamim, two other reservists were wounded in the incident, including one seriously.

Initially, the army suspected it had been a Hamas attack on the post, but later discovered that it had been an apparent accident.

IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in an image published October 3, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The incident came on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war, the longest in Israel’s history.

A day after the incident, the chief of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, and the chief of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, ordered the establishment of a panel of experts to examine the circumstances of the blast.

The military said the team would be headed by the commander of the 5th Reserve Brigade, a colonel.

Rahamim’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 473. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

According to the IDF’s data, 30 soldiers have been killed in accidents involving weaponry in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. The number does not include cases of so-called friendly fire, or other accidents not involving firearms and munitions.

On Friday, the IDF completed a withdrawal to agreed-upon deployment lines in the Gaza Strip, officially beginning a ceasefire and a 72-hour countdown during which Hamas is to release the 48 hostages it is holding under the first phase of a US-brokered deal that intends to end the war.