The soldiers entered a building in Khan Younis to pursue Hamas terrorists only to discover that the building was trapped with explosives.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Three IDF soldiers were killed and 6 were seriously wounded in a southern Gaza building booby-trapped with explosives on Friday afternoon.
The soldiers entered a two-story building in Khan Younis to pursue Hamas terrorists only to discover that the building was trapped with explosives inside and outside.
As the explosives detonated, two soldiers were trapped inside the building.
An IDF helicopter arrived immediately and initiated a strike against the terrorists, which the IDF says were killed.
The names of the fallen soldiers, released on Saturday night, are 19-year-old Sergeant Dolev Malka from Shlomi, 19-year-old Sergeant Afik Tery from Rehovot, and 20-year-old Sergeant Inon Yitzhak from Mitzpe Ramon.
All three soldiers were recruited and trained in the Kfir Brigade’s Nachshon battalion and were enrolled in the Bislamach Brigade commander’s training course.
The soldiers had been sent in to replace the Paratroopers brigade which had served for three months in Gaza.
In the explosion, 14 soldiers were wounded, 6 of them seriously.
The IDF is launching an investigation into the manner in which the troops scanned the premises and the way the explosives were planted in the building.
For several weeks, the IDF has been operating extensively in Khan Younis, focusing on the western part of the city, neutralizing terrorists and seizing weapons.
The Commando Unit recently raided a compound where Hamas leader and October 7th mastermind Yahya Sinwar was believed to have been operating at some point.
Although Sinwar still evades capture, the IDF believes they are close on his trail as he is thought to be moving back and forth between locations.
A senior Israeli military official told Walla News! that Sinwar had been surprised by the IDF’s ground invasion of the Strip, and hadn’t expected such a deep incursion into the coastal enclave.
Since troops entered the Strip, Sinwar has been scrambling to evade capture, and is making errors due to his haste to avoid Israeli soldiers and intelligence forces.
Earlier this week, IDF forces raided the Hamas fortified command center dubbed “Room 6,” an underground bunker that contains both critical surveillance and military infrastructure and living areas, designed for a long stay.