Four IDF Soldiers Killed in Gaza Explosion

The military cleared for publication that four IDF soldiers were sadly killed this morning in an explosion of a booby-trapped building in Khan Younis, Gaza.

IDF spokesperson will deliver a statement shortly regarding the serious incident.

The names of two fallen soldiers have been cleared for publication:

Master Sergeant (Res.) Chen Gross, 33, from Gan Yoshiya, a fighter in the Maglan Unit, Commando Brigade, and Sergeant Yoav Raver, 19, from Sde Warburg, a fighter in the Yahalom Unit, Combat Engineering Corps. Both fell in battle in southern Gaza.

Galatz reporter Doron Kadish with a preliminary investigation of the incident in which 4 fighters from the Commando Brigade and Yahalom Unit were killed in Khan Younis:

1. The Commando Brigade launched another nighttime attack in its operational area in western Bani Suheila, Khan Younis. During the attack, forces raided buildings and Hamas terror infrastructure.
2. At 6:05 AM, a Maglan Unit team, accompanied by Yahalom Unit engineering forces, entered a building—identified as a Hamas site, possibly containing a tunnel system—to clear and investigate it.
3. At approximately 6:10 AM, minutes after entering, an explosive device detonated inside, causing the building to collapse on the fighters.
4. The collapse and explosion killed 4 fighters and injured 5 others—one critically, the rest moderately. The wounded were immediately evacuated to a hospital.
5. In the hours that followed, operations began to extract the fallen from the rubble, some taking hours under artillery and air force cover.
6. The initial investigation indicates that required protocols to ensure the building was not booby-trapped (e.g., using drones, Oketz Unit dogs, bulldozers, engineering tools, or munitions to trigger potential explosives) were followed before entry. The IDF is still investigating the matter.