The IDF announced Monday the names of more KIAs from the ongoing Operation Iron Swords following intense combat operations in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.
The four were named as Major Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, Staff sergeant Eitan Karlsbrun, Sergeant Yair Levin, and Sergeant Almog Shalom.
The four were in the Shabura neighborhood of Rafah, as part of a force from the Givati Brigade Training Formation, which operates under the Givati Brigade carrying out a joint operation with the Nahal Brigade. The force's movement was carried out on the main street, not far from the market, in an area with tunnels, reinforced houses, and ammunition. The fighters reached a three-story building that they planned to enter. Before entering, they threw a stun grenade into the building, in order to detonate any explosives that might be there. But despite throwing the stun grenades, when the forces entered there was a massive explosion that caused the building to collapse.
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גיבור ישראל, הקדוש *יאיר לוין* הי"ד, לוחם סיירת גבעתי, תושב היישוב גבעת הראל בבנימין, נפל אמש בקרב ברצועת עזה.*יאיר הי"ד הינו נכדם של משה וציפי פייגלין.*
כולנו במשפחת 'זהות' וקהילת 'ישראל מחר' כואבים עם משה, ציפי וכל משפחת… pic.twitter.com/nBtUpojbzd
— משה פייגלין (@moshefeiglin) June 11, 2024
The first to enter were the company commander and a sergeant who was the deputy team leader, and they were trapped under the rubble along with another fighter. After clearing the debris, a significant tunnel was found at the site, and it turned out that the house belonged to a Hamas operative. Among the casualties was one severely wounded, whose condition they managed to stabilize and who was later classified as serious. Three others were seriously injured, and the wounded were evacuated to hospitals.
Rafah has become the last major stronghold of the terrorist group Hamas, and Israel has vowed to retake it as well as part of the effort to topple Hamas, who massacred some 1,200 people in its Oct. 7 invasion of the border communities near the Gaza Strip.
The incident in which the soldiers fell occurred in Rafah during a takeover of a 3-story building, part of which collapsed from an explosion, as part of a joint operation with the Nahal Brigade.
The funeral of Staff Sergeant Almog Shalom will take place today at 11:30 am at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. The funeral of Staff Sergeant Yair Levin will take place today at 11:30 am at the cemetery in Karnei Shomron. The funeral of Sergeant Major Etan Karlsburg will take place today at 12:00 pm at the military cemetery in Modi'in and the funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Tal Pashvelevski will take place today at 1:30 pm in Gedera.
Yair Levin, a soldier from the Givati reconnaissance unit who fell, is the grandson of former Knesset member (Likud) Moshe Feiglin. Levin is a graduate of the Yaffo pre-military academy, and previously studied at the Ahavat Hayim high school yeshiva in Kochav Hashahar.
In recent weeks, the US has pressured Israel to avoid a large-scale assault on the city for fear that this would cause widespread destruction and a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel has vowed to maintain its careful separation between the civilian population and combatants and has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter the Gaza Strip daily, including via a floating pier set up by the United States' military.
