IDF reservist Alon Farkas killed in battle in Shuja'iyya

The IDF cleared for publication on Tuesday that Master Sergeant (Res.) Alon Farkas, 27 years old from Kibbutz Kabri, a soldier in the 6646 Reconnaissance Battalion, ‘Shu’alei Marom’ (646th Brigade), was killed last night during combat in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip. Another reservist soldier was seriously wounded in the same incident.

The two fighters from the 646th Paratroopers Reserve Battalion were struck by gunfire from a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov rifle who managed to reach the position where they were stationed. After the shooting, the terrorist escaped the scene. The death toll of IDF soldiers in the Iron Swords War now stands at 862.

In another incident in Jabaliya, where the IDF’s 162nd Division is operating, terrorists managed to drop a fragmentation grenade or explosive device from a drone toward IDF troops. Two soldiers from the elite Yahalom unit were evacuated in moderate-to-serious condition, and a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operative with them sustained light injuries.

Yesterday, it was also cleared for publication that three soldiers from the Rotem Battalion of the Givati Brigade were killed by an explosive device detonation in northern Gaza:
Staff Sergeant Lior Steinberg, 20, from Petah Tikva;
Staff Sergeant Ofek Barhana, 20, from Yavne;
Staff Sergeant Omer Van Gelder, 22, from Ma'ale Adumim.
Two other soldiers were moderately wounded in the incident.

Last week, David Libi, a 19-year-old Israeli civilian working in Gaza as a contractor for the Ministry of Defense, was killed by a powerful explosive device in northern Gaza. According to the investigation, Libi was operating a bulldozer as part of the 401st Brigade’s combat team in the Jabaliya area when the explosive was detonated.