The IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed on Tuesday morning that Staff sergeant Maoz Morell, a resident of Talmon in the Binyamin region, died on Monday after he was critically wounded during a heroic battle in Gaza on February 15.
He was 22, the son of Varda and Eitan, and the brother of four siblings. He studied in the Dimona high school and Yeshivat Avinoam in the town of Tapuach in Samaria. He enlisted in the Paratroopers Brigade directly from Yeshiva.
Binyamin governor Israel Ganz mourned deeply for him: “Maoz hung between heaven and earth for a full week, leaving this world by degrees and saying goodbye to the land for which he had fought and which he loved. His amazing family surrounded him with love until he returned his soul to its creator. We weep and mourn for the dear youth, from the younger and better generation of Binyamin, that led us forward in values, character traits, and on the battlefield. We will accompany the Morell family in any way needed.”
This morning, it was announced that Staff Sergeant Simon Shlomov, 20, from Kiryat Bialik, serving in the 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, was killed in action in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
574 IDF soldiers have been killed since the war broke out, of which 237 were killed during the ground offensive in Gaza.
Shlomov was the second soldier from the 202nd Brigade to be killed in action in southen Gaza in the past few days. On Friday, February 16, the IDF cleared for publication that Staff Sergeant Noam Haba, 20, from Jerusalem, was killed in action in southern Gaza. In the same battle, another soldier from the battalion was seriously injured, and several additional soldiers suffered lesser injuries. Noam’s uncle was killed in action in Gaza 35 years ago, and his brother survived the Supernova festival.
On Thursday, yet another casualty from the Paratroopers Brigade was cleared for publication: Staff Sergeant Rotem Sahar-Hadar, 20, from Kfar Aviv, was killed in action in the southern Gaza Strip. Nine other soldiers were injured in the same engagement. Two soldiers and one officer were listed as seriously wounded.