The Israeli military confirmed Tuesday that it lost a dozen soldiers to a Hamas ambush in Gaza.
One of the dead soldiers was a colonel for one of Israel’s best infantry groups, called the “Golani Brigade.”
As the war reaches a tipping point with no possible ceasefire or Israeli military success, it is expected that more attrition will occur on both sides.
The IDF list of dead soldiers is: Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, 23, Sgt. Achia Daskal, 19, SSgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, Cpt. Liel Hayo, 22, Maj. Ben Shelly, 26, MSgt. Rom Hecht, 20, Sgt. Eron Aloni, 19, and Col. Ben Bashet, 44.
Israel has split Gaza into two without further incursions ever since, with the most intensive battle centered in Khan Younis.
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Ben Basat, the most senior IDF officer, lost his life during the ground offensive against Hamas.
In a separate incident in northern Gaza, Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, from Ashkelon, was killed, and three other soldiers were seriously wounded.
An initial investigation revealed that infantry soldiers from the Golani Brigade, supported by armor and engineering forces, were conducting search operations in the kasbah of Shejaiya.
While searching a cluster of three abandoned buildings surrounding a courtyard, they discovered a tunnel entrance.
As they entered one of the buildings, they were ambushed by Hamas terrorists who threw grenades, detonated an explosive device, and opened fire.
All four soldiers were hit by the explosion, and gunfire continued from outside.
A second group of troops tried to reach them, but contact with the officer leading the force was lost, prompting local commanders to initiate emergency procedures amid fears of possible capture.
Senior Golani officers, including Ben Bassat, Grinberg of the 13th Battalion, and two other battalion commanders, led forces to the area.
Ben Bassat directed the rescue operation, while Grinberg and others set up a perimeter for cover.
Grinberg executed a flanking movement from the north, with support from the Golani’s reconnaissance battalion from the south and the commander of the 188th Armored Brigade’s 53rd Battalion from another angle.