From start to end: Fallen Golani commanders led troops from training to Gaza war
Commanders Bar-On's and Meldasi's soldiers had only completed their advanced training a week before entering Gaza.
Last Tuesday proved to be one of the deadliest days in years for the IDF, when 10 soldiers, including several senior officers, were killed in fierce battles around Shejaia in northern Gaza. The IDF released further details of the circumstances surrounding the soldiers' deaths on Sunday afternoon.
Two of the fallen commanders – Maj. Moshe Avram Bar-On, a commander in Golani Brigade's 51st Battalion, and Maj. Roei Meldasi, a commander in Golani's 13 Battalion – completed training with the soldiers under their command and, at the outset of the Israel-Hamas War, joined up with their battalions as IDF troops entered the Hamas-run territory. Bar-On's and Meldasi's soldiers had only completed their advanced training a week before entering Gaza.
Last Tuesday, Bar-On and his soldiers located a combat base used by Hamas terrorists; a large weapons cache, along with maps; and a tunnel shaft in a residence of a Hamas terrorist. The weapons were confiscated, and the tunnel shaft was neutralized.At the same residence, later on Tuesday, Meldasi and his troops uncovered military intelligence documents and training material for Hamas intelligence operatives, hidden in the garden.
Commanders rushed to help their comrades in trouble
As Tuesday progressed and details emerged within the IDF of fierce battles ongoing in Shejaia, Bar-On led his troops back to battle alongside Lt.-Col. Tomer Grinberg, Commander of the 13th Battalion, in order to rescue Israeli troops under fire.
By the end of the day's fighting, Meldasi and Grinberg were killed, along with Bar-On and Col. Yitzhak Ben Bassat of the 11th Reserve Commando Brigade; Capt. Liel Hayo, Sgt. Achia Daskal, and Sgt. Eran Aloni, all from Golani's 51st Battalion; Maj. Ben Shelly and Maj. Rom Hecht of the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669) and Sgt. Oriya Yaakov of the School of Combat Engineering.
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