5 IDF Soldiers Hy’d, Including 4 from Netzah Yehuda, Killed by Roadside Bomb in Northern Gaza

Five Israeli soldiers were tragically killed by terrorists and 14 others were wounded on Monday night when a roadside bomb exploded during an IDF operation in Beit Hanoun, located in the northern Gaza Strip, the army confirmed Tuesday morning.

The IDF identified the soldiers who fell in the line of duty as:

• Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar Hy”d, 20, of Yerushalayim
• Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech Hy”d, 20, of Yerushalayim
• Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian Hy”d, 20, of Yerushalayim
• Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll Hy”d, 21, of Beit Shemesh
• Sgt. First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin Hy”d, 28, of Haifa

Four of the soldiers; Meir Shimon, Moshe Nissim, Noam Aharon, and Moshe Shmuel,served in the Netzach Yehuda Battalion, which is comprised mainly of Charedi and Religious Zionist soldiers. Benyamin served in the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division.

According to an initial investigation by the IDF, the troops were on foot during ground maneuvers in Beit Hanoun when terrorists detonated an explosive device positioned along the roadside shortly after 10 p.m.

While rescue teams were working to evacuate the wounded, they came under gunfire from nearby terrorist positions, the IDF said.

Among the 14 injured soldiers, two were reported to be in serious condition.

The military added that the area had been targeted by Israeli aircraft prior to the ground forces’ entry into Beit Hanoun.

The Netzah Yehuda soldiers had been operating alongside the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade as part of a renewed campaign in Beit Hanoun, under the direction of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade. The goal of the operation was to eliminate entrenched terror cells remaining in the area.

Beit Hanoun, situated at the northern edge of the Strip across from Sderot, has seen repeated IDF raids since the war began. Each time, troops had withdrawn after completing limited missions, but the current campaign signals a change in strategy.

Israeli officials have said that this time, the army intends to maintain control of areas it captures. The IDF currently holds roughly 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, according to its own assessments.

Responding to the tragedy from Washington, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: “On this difficult morning, the entire people of Israel bow their heads and mourn the deaths of our heroic fighters, who sacrificed their lives in the campaign to defeat Hamas and free all of our hostages. We embrace the families who lost their loved ones, and pray for the full recovery of those wounded in the incident.”

With these latest losses, the IDF’s total number of soldiers killed in ground operations in Gaza and along the border now stands at 449.