The IDF announced today (Friday) that it has decided to recognize Sergeant Shneur Zalman Cohen, 20, a resident of Yitzhar, as a casualty of war.
Cohen was killed in November 2024 in a grenade explosion in northern Gaza. In light of the IDF's recognition of him, the official number of IDF casualties since the start of the war has increased to 847.
Cohen served in the Givati Brigade and was on guard duty at the time of the incident in which he was killed.
Initially, following an investigation by the Military Police, it was decided not to include his name on the list of war casualties. His family and friends demanded that he be recognized as a war casualty, noting that a few days before the incident, a defective grenade was discovered in the company that had been detonated in a controlled manner.
Soldiers who served with him claimed that he may have been killed by the explosion of another defective weapon that he was carrying on his vest. Five months after he was killed, the IDF decided to recognize him as a war casualty.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said following Cohen's death, "Shneur was a person with inner grace which shined outward. He learned Torah, and he was also a talented fighter. Before he enlisted, he volunteered in the regional defense. He was raised by a family of true pioneers, Dina and Ze'ev Cohen, who moved - at the height of the Oslo war - the Second Intifada - to live in Sa-Nur and strengthen the towns of northern Samaria. They are dedicated to all of the town's needs. Since October 7, his father has been serving in the reserves, in the regional defense of Samaria."
"The Samaria Regional Council will support the family with everything it needs. The entire Samaria family is mourning and embraces the Cohen family."
"I have known the family for over 20 years. We are sad, but we will never break. We will continue to support the IDF, we will continue the settlements. We are very pained, we are sad and hurting. But we swear: We will never break! We will support the IDF and we will give strength to the security forces and the State of Israel - forever. We will support the settlements even more - in Yitzhar and throughout all of Judea and Samaria, the Gaza border area, and the north. We will support the military and civilian victory, and through the bravery of these holy ones - we will win."