Sixth casualty in 24 hours: Sergeant Major (Res.) Ran Yavetz, aged 39, fell in battle on Thursday in the northern Gaza Strip.
Yavetz served as a soldier in Patrol Battalion 6828. The Modiin resident left behind a wife and three children.
He will be laid to rest at 11:00 p.m. in the military section of the Modiin Cemetery.
The number of soldiers who fell since the war began on October 7th now stands at 627.
In the incident where Sgt. Maj. Yavetz fell, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded, and evacuated to a hospital for medical care. His family was informed.
Earlier in the day the IDF cleared for publication the names of five IDF soldiers who were killed in a tragic friendly-fire incident on Wednesday: Captain Roy Beit Yaakov, 22 years old from the town of Eli, Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim, 22 years old from Karnei Shomron in Samaria, Sergeant Daniel Chemu, 20 years old from Tiberias, Sergeant Ilan Cohen, 20 years old from Carmiel, and Staff Sergeant Betzalel David Shashuah, 21 years old from Tel Aviv.
Eight other soldiers were injured in the incident, three of them seriously. The rest were evacuated to hospitals in moderate and mild condition.