The IDF cleared for publication this morning (Sunday) that Sergeant Yakir Ya'akov Levi, 21, from Hafetz Haim, a soldier from the 601st Engineering Battalion, 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade, fell in battle in the Gaza Strip. His family has been notified. Yesterday (Saturday), eight soldiers were killed in an APC explosion in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in one of the highest casualty incidents in Gaza the IDF has suffered in months. From a preliminary investigation of the incident, two options are now being investigated. One is that an anti-tank missile hit the APC, and the second is that the APC hit a powerful explosive device that caused the explosives and mines on it to explode. Commenting on the incident, IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said on Saturday night, "Tonight we delivered the hardest news to the families of eight IDF soldiers who fell in action in Gaza." "In the early morning, with the completion of the operation on the northwestern part of the area, infantry, armored and engineering troops from the 401st Brigade entered the area in convoys of armored fighting vehicles in order to position themselves in the contact lines. According to the information we have at this stage, a powerful explosion occurred in one of the engineering vehicles in the convoy, seemingly caused by an explosive device planted in the area or as a result of anti-tank missile fire. Inside the armored vehicle were the eight soldiers who were killed," said Hagari. "Following this difficult incident, a team of experts from the Ministry of Defense and the IDF will examine the armored vehicle and all the details of the incident until we reach findings," he added.
