IDF announces names of four soldiers who fell in battle in southern Gaza

Four IDF soldiers serving in the Oz Brigade fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF said Sunday morning.

The soldiers were identified as Capt. Ido Baruch, 21, from Tel Mond, a squad commander in the commando training school who served in the Egoz Unit; Sgt. Amitai Even Shoshan, 20, from Azriel, who was undergoing training in the commando training school; Sgt. Reef Harush, 20, from Kibbutz Ramat David, who was undergoing training in the commando training school; and Sgt. Ilai Zair, 20, from Keidar who was undergoing training in the commando training school.

Israeli media reported that the incident occurred in northern Khan Yunis on Saturday. While troops and tanks were searching the area, terrorists emerged from an underground shaft within the rubble and fired at the soldiers.

Three soldiers were killed immediately. An additional soldier was critically wounded and died from his wounds in the hospital.  

The terrorists managed to escape via the shaft, and the remaining IDF troops, who had detected explosives in its vicinity and had identified the trap, decided not to pursue them further.  

Harush's father speaks of fallen son 

Avi Harush, Reef's father, said, according to Ynet, "We are torn; yesterday at six in the evening, they knocked on the door of my house, the city officer came, I immediately knew that my Reef was killed, there were no doubts because I saw that for the wounded they no longer notify by visit, but do it only by phone."

"We lost a lovely boy with a huge heart...Reef was aware of the dangers in Gaza. I asked him if he was afraid, and he answered yes, and I preferred it because then he would be aware of the dangers," his father further said.

"I told him, 'My dear Rif, don't be a hero because heroes die first, and he promised to protect himself; it turned out it had nothing to do with him, and they were ambushed...In the last week I knew that Reef would die, I started wearing my shirts and imagined myself eulogizing him," he added.

Ynet further published an excerpt from a letter written by the fallen soldier before he entered the Strip, "I tried my best, and that's where I got to. I said that if I already fit in, then I want to be in a place that can get the most out of me as possible and maximize it.

"Why am I risking my life? They did it before, and they'll do it after. I'm ready to sacrifice my life for that elderly woman who tells me thank you and cries, and for the sake of my family so that they sit quietly and peacefully and know that there is a huge army behind them that will protect them as long as we are on our standing."