Tragic Day Claims Lives of Nine IDF Soldiers

Nine IDF soldiers who died in combat in the Gaza Strip on January 8th, 2024. (IDF) (IDF)

There’s speculation that most of the fatalities were caused by an error in the explosives’ timing.

By Vered Weiss

On Monday, nine IDF soldiers were killed and eight were wounded in three separate incidents during operations in Gaza.

Six of the deaths and most of the injuries resulted from an explosion while IDF soldiers were close to a Hamas rocket factory, the largest of its kind, discovered recently in al-Bureij in central Gaza.

To destroy terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, the soldiers were preparing to blow up the facility, and a truck was transporting explosives.

An error in timing or a technical problem could have led to the fatal explosion or the deaths could have resulted from a delayed explosive device placed there by Hamas terrorists.

In addition, two soldiers were killed in Khan Younis and another soldier died in a third incident in Gaza.

On Tuesday morning, four names were announced by the IDF.

Sgt. Roi Tal (19) from Kfar Yehoshua was a fighter in the 94th Battalion Kfir Brigade and fell in battle southern Gaza.

Maj. (res.) David Schwartz (26) from Elazar was a fighter in the 8219th Engineering Battalion Haci Hash formation (551) and fell in battle in southern Gaza.

Maj. General (res.) Yakir Hexter (26) from Jerusalem was a fighter in the 8291 Engineering Battalion Hace Hash formation (551) and fell in battle in southern Gaza.

Maj. (ret.) Gavriel Bloom (27) from Beit Shemesh was a fighter in the divisional engineering team of the 36th division and fell in battle in southern Gaza.

Five more names were announced by the IDF on Tuesday afternoon.

Maj.(res.) Amit Moshe Shahar (25) from Ramat Yochanan was a soldier in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and fell in battle in the center Gaza.

Capt. (ret.) Denis Krokhmalov Veksler (32) from Be’er Sheva was a combat engineering officer in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and fell in battle in the center of Gaza.

Capt. Ron Efrimi (26) from Hod Hasharon was a combat engineering officer in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and fell in battle in the center Gaza.

Maj. (res.) Roi Avraham Maimon (24) from Afula was a combat paramedic in the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and fell in battle in the center of Gaza.

Maj. (res.) Akiva Yasinskiy (35) from Ramat Gan was a soldier in the 8173 Engineering Battalion the ‘Etzioni’ Brigade (6) and fell in battle in the center of Gaza.

Bloom, and the five names released on Tuesday afternoon all died in the same incident in Gaza.