He is to be laid rest today in the Rishon L'Tzion military cemetery.
Hundreds of pounds of explosives were placed underneath the military base, located between Kissufim and the Jewish community of Kfar Darom, near the Yehuda Junction in Gush Katif and 300 meters from Khan Younis.
Terrorists fired automatic weapons and mortars at rescue forces, attempting to prevent the evacuation of those injured in the explosion. A Magen David Adom ambulance driver told Israel Radio that he was shot at immediately upon arriving at the scene and was ordered to leave the area. Special search and rescue units were dispatched to the site to help with the immediate relief efforts.
The injured soldiers were brought to Be'er Sheva's Soroka Hospital. One of the injured is in serious condition, two are moderately wounded and one is lightly injured.
A soldier on the scene told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi by telephone that five of his fellow soldiers were lightly wounded by the blast, which opened a 20-meter-wide hole in the earth: "There were two huge explosions and now there is a giant crater where the parking lot once was - the whole structure has caved in," he said. " Thank God, they seem to have dug it under where they thought our barracks were, but instead blew up the parking lot - thank God everyone is accounted for. It is really a miracle that they didn't succeed in blowing up the barracks. There were angels guarding us tonight as we stood guarding Israel," said the soldier, "we can feel it."
In Gaza City, about 2,000 people rushed into the streets to celebrate, among them about 100 armed men.
The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas both took 'credit' for the attack. A Hamas spokesman compared the withdrawal from Gaza to the IDF's hasty flight from Lebanon under Ehud Barak, saying, "Israel will run away from all occupied lands in response to Hamas attacks - which we will continue - just as it ran away from the Hizbullah in Lebanon."
A spokesman for the Martyrs Brigades confirmed that terrorists had dug a 350-meter long tunnel beneath the base before detonating 150 kg of explosives underneath it.
Dr. Aaron Lerner of the IMRA media analysis organization, notes that on June 21, "The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei asserted that the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah movement, will not be dissolved and Fatah will never relinquish its military wing."
The Hizbullah television station in Lebanon, Al-Manar, purports to show terrorists preparing last night's explosives attack on the IDF outpost.
Hundreds of pounds of explosives were placed underneath the military base, located between Kissufim and the Jewish community of Kfar Darom, near the Yehuda Junction in Gush Katif and 300 meters from Khan Younis.
Terrorists fired automatic weapons and mortars at rescue forces, attempting to prevent the evacuation of those injured in the explosion. A Magen David Adom ambulance driver told Israel Radio that he was shot at immediately upon arriving at the scene and was ordered to leave the area. Special search and rescue units were dispatched to the site to help with the immediate relief efforts.
The injured soldiers were brought to Be'er Sheva's Soroka Hospital. One of the injured is in serious condition, two are moderately wounded and one is lightly injured.
A soldier on the scene told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi by telephone that five of his fellow soldiers were lightly wounded by the blast, which opened a 20-meter-wide hole in the earth: "There were two huge explosions and now there is a giant crater where the parking lot once was - the whole structure has caved in," he said. " Thank God, they seem to have dug it under where they thought our barracks were, but instead blew up the parking lot - thank God everyone is accounted for. It is really a miracle that they didn't succeed in blowing up the barracks. There were angels guarding us tonight as we stood guarding Israel," said the soldier, "we can feel it."
In Gaza City, about 2,000 people rushed into the streets to celebrate, among them about 100 armed men.
The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas both took 'credit' for the attack. A Hamas spokesman compared the withdrawal from Gaza to the IDF's hasty flight from Lebanon under Ehud Barak, saying, "Israel will run away from all occupied lands in response to Hamas attacks - which we will continue - just as it ran away from the Hizbullah in Lebanon."
A spokesman for the Martyrs Brigades confirmed that terrorists had dug a 350-meter long tunnel beneath the base before detonating 150 kg of explosives underneath it.
Dr. Aaron Lerner of the IMRA media analysis organization, notes that on June 21, "The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei asserted that the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah movement, will not be dissolved and Fatah will never relinquish its military wing."
The Hizbullah television station in Lebanon, Al-Manar, purports to show terrorists preparing last night's explosives attack on the IDF outpost.