Two soldiers killed, three wounded from mortar fire in southern Gaza Strip

Two reserve soldiers were killed by mortar fire in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Friday.

Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Omer Smadja, 25, from Ganot Hadar, and Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Saadia Yaakov Dery, 27, from Tel Aviv, both from the 9203 Battalion in the Alexandroni Brigade, were killed in combat in the central Gaza Strip.

The military said that three soldiers were severely wounded in the same incident.

The Alexandroni Brigade unit was ambushed on Thursday afternoon by Hamas gunmen as they were moving on foot along the Netzarim corridor. Troops fired heavily towards the area from where the mortars were launched. IDF medical teams provided quick initial treatment and evacuated the wounded.

Smadja is the son of legendary athlete Oren Smadja – the judo bronze medalist at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the current coach of the national judo team. Omer had wished his father a happy 54th birthday the morning of his death. He was on a second round of reserve duty, having received an initial emergency call-up on October 7.

Fellow Israeli Olympic judo medalists Arik Zeevi, Sagi Muki and Yael Arad attended Omer’s funeral at the Netanya military cemetery on Friday.

Omer is survived by his parents and a younger brother and sister.

Saadia Yaakov Dery is survived by his wife, Rachel, and two children, aged two and one. He was studying for rabbinical exams when he received an emergency call-up on October 7.

His parents, Lilly and Chaim Dery, are considered central figures in the Samaria settlement of Eli. Dery was the second oldest son among six other siblings.

Following his death, his mother said, “My Saadia was a child who always put everyone else before himself. He did much more than was expected of him in every field. He was studying for rabbinical exams while also beginning studies for a bachelor’s degree in education. He studied in every free moment he had and had a great sense of humor.

“He was also a wonderful father to his children Halili and Yinon; a hero in both body and spirit who never complained,” she said. “Saadia was in love with this nation. He loved the Torah and the land – he fought for it.”

What happened?

An Alexandroni Brigade unit, which was moving on foot Thursday afternoon along the Netzarim corridor, was ambushed by Hamas terrorists at a relatively short distance. The ambush fired five mortar shells at the soldiers.

The incident occurred minutes before 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The evacuation of the injured was complicated, with IDF soldiers firing heavily towards the area where the terrorists launched the mortars. IDF medical teams provided quick initial treatment and evacuated the injured soldiers using 669 helicopters to hospitals in central Israel.