Update: Israel Mourns Loss after Latest Attack

Israel is currently mourning the fall of four soldiers following an unprecedented attack on the the soldiers yesterday.

According to reports, the training force of the Givat patrol participated in a combined two-division attack (of Givat and the Nahal) on the Shavora neighborhood in Rafah.

This is the neighborhood from which the two kidnappers, Fernando Marman and Luis Har, were rescued in February.

At around 13:00, the force arrived at a 3-story building, which was planned to be entered as part of the attack to clear it. Before entering the building, the force threw in a “volume-shaking charge” – an IDF device supposed to activate traps inside buildings, if any. Since no charge was activated, the force believed that the building was not trapped and went inside.

Shortly after entering, the structure exploded, and part of it collapsed on the fighters. Two of the fighters were killed on the spot, and due to the collapse of the building, a complex process of rescuing prisoners from the ruins began.

The forces of the rescue brigade of the Home Front Command rushed to the scene, managed to rescue one fighter who was captured alive, and he was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Later on, two more fighters were rescued from the scene, but they were lifeless. All the injured were evacuated from the scene by helicopters, which for the first time landed near the Philadelphia axis for rescue.

After the incident, during searches of the captured building, the force discovered an underground tunnel shaft with stairs. Further intelligence investigation revealed that it was the home of a key Hamas operative.