Nine IDF soldiers fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Sunday morning.
Five were regular soldiers, the other four were reservists.
Four fighters were killed in the southern Strip after an anti-tank missile hit the vehicle they were in:
• Staff.-Sgt. David Bogdanovskyi, 19, from Haifa, a soldier in the Combat Engineering 603rd Battalion in the 7th Armored Brigade;
• Staff.-Sgt. Orel Bashan, 20, from Haifa, a soldier in the 603rd Battalion;
• Staff.-Sgt. Gal Hershko, 20, from Yiftah, a squad commander in the 603rd Battalion; and
• Staff.-Sgt. Itamar Shemen, 21, from Lapid, a paramedic in the 36th Division “Ga’ash” who was fighting as part of the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
Two other soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack.
Four others, all reservists, fell in battle in central Gaza:
• Master-Sgt. (res.) Nadav Issachar Farhi, 30, from Herzliya, a medic in the 7810 Battalion in the 11th Brigade;
• Master-Sgt. (res.) Eliyahu Meir Ohana, 28, from Haifa, a soldier in the 7810 Battalion;
• Sgt.-1st Class (res.) Elyassaf Shoshan, 23, from Jerusalem, a soldier in the 6646 Battalion of the 646th Brigade; and
• Sgt.-1st Class (res.) Ohad Ashur, 23, from Kfar Yona, a soldier in the 6646 Battalion.
Farhi and Ohana were killed by an explosive device; another reserve soldier was seriously wounded in the incident. Shoshan and Ashur were also killed by an explosive device, and three other soldiers were seriously wounded, during a firefight with terrorists.
Additionally, the IDF announced later on Sunday that St.-Sgt. Roy Elias, 21, from Tzofar, died in battle in Gaza.Elias, who served in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed on Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the war, 486 soldiers have fallen, many during the October 7 surprise infiltration and others in subsequent battles.