The names have been released for publication of seven of the eight IDF Engineering Corps soldiers killed early on Saturday morning when their troop carrier, part of a convoy, blew up near the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Six of the soldiers were named this morning: Sergeant Eliyahu Moshe Cimbalist, 21, from Bet Shemesh; Sergeant Itai Amar, 19, from Kochav Yair-Tzur Yigal; First Sergeant Stanislav Kostrov, 21, from Ashdod; First Sergeant Or Blumovitz, 20, from Pardes Hanna-Karkurt; First Sergeant Oz Yeshayahu Gruber, 20, from Tel Menashe; and Sergeant Yakir Yaakov Levy, 21, from Hafetz Haim.
Yesterday evening, the IDF permitted publication of the name of Captain Wasim Mahmoud, 21, from Beit Jann, the deputy company commander, who was also killed in the incident.
The reason for the explosion is not yet known for certain, but the assessment is growing that the troop carrier was hit by RPG fire that set off explosives carried on the vehicle. A team of experts from the IDF and the Ministry of Defense is examining the incident. The convoy was leaving the area of a combined operation with a battalion of the Givati Brigade in which, according to the IDF, 50 Hamas terrorists were killed.
Last night, two soldiers from the Armored Corps were killed in the north of the Gaza Strip. They have been named as Captain Eitan Kopolovitz, 28, from Jerusalem, and Staff Sergeant Major Eilon Weiss, 49, from Psagot, a father of seven with one granddaughter, who served as a volunteer in the reserves from October 7.
Sergeant Yair Roitman, who was injured in an explosion in a booby-trapped building in the Gaza Strip last week, has died of his wounds.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said today that "we will not be able to bring home all the hostages in the way we rescued the four hostages", referring to the successful operation on June 8 when four hostages were rescued from two apartments in Rafah by the IDF, the Israel Police Yamam anti-terrorist unit, and the Israel Security Agency. Addressing residents of northern Israel, who have mostly been evacuated, Hagari said, "We will not allow a return to what there was before October 7. We are determined and ready to do everything necessary to change the situation in the north."
Demonstrations against the government and calling for a deal to bring home the remaining hostages took place around Israel last night. This morning, demonstrators blocked junctions and roads, among them the Ayalon Highway, Road 4 at Ra’anana, Road 70 at Yavor Junction, Einat Junction, and Road 40. At Ra’anana, demonstrators burned tires and waved banners saying "Elections Now."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 16, 2024.
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