The troops were not traveling inside an armored vehicle at the time of the blast.
By IDF Club
Five Israeli soldiers were killed and an additional 14 troops were wounded after a roadside bomb detonated as they operated in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday evening.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, 20, from Jerusalem, Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, 20, from Jerusalem, Major (Res.) Benjamin Assoulin, 28, from Haifa, and Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, 20, from Jerusalem, and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, 21.
Amar, Frech, and Musgadian served in the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Assoulin served in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.
The IDF confirmed that the families of the slain soldiers have been notified.
An initial IDF probe of the deadly incident found that a roadside bomb exploded near troops, who were conducting ground operations on foot in Beit Hanoun.
The troops were not traveling inside an armored vehicle at the time of the blast.
Soldiers who attempted to rescue their wounded comrades came under fire.
Two of the 14 soldiers wounded in the explosion were listed as being in serious condition.
“We bow our heads in honor of the fallen soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion who gave their lives in battle in the northern Gaza Strip,” the Netzah Yehuda Association, an organization supporting the unit, said in a media statement.
“With broken hearts, we stand alongside the families in mourning the loss of their brave sons — fighters who selflessly risked their lives for the people of Israel.”
The mass casualty incident comes amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit.
President Donald Trump has stressed that he expects Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire as early as this week.
A senior Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that the truce could be finalized within a “few days.”
The official stressed that “there is full and total coordination between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump, including on the issue of the hostage deal.”
