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Gaza building collapse that killed 5 soldiers likely result of accidental detonation – IDF

Hamas meanwhile took credit for collapsing the building.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The five soldiers from the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion who were killed Monday in northern Gaza may have been victims of their own explosives, according to the initial findings of an IDF investigation.

The troops were preparing to detonate a building in Beit Hanoun when a chain of charges exploded, causing the structure to collapse on them.

Eight other soldiers in the battalion were seriously wounded in the explosion.

While the army said that its probe is still ongoing, Hamas was quick to take credit for their deaths.

Saying that the IDF has “has hidden the true extent of its losses,” Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida posted to Telegram Monday that the terrorist forces had killed “more than” ten soldiers over the last three days.

“Our members are still dealing it harsh blows,” he said.

On Saturday three other Nahal soldiers and a heavy-equipment driver of the Armored Brigade were killed and six wounded, two very seriously, in a Hamas ambush of their open jeeps traveling in a convoy through the same city.

In this case, the army’s preliminary investigation showed that the terrorists set off a remote- controlled explosive device near one of the vehicles and then perhaps opened fire on the troops.

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Of the five killed, team leader Capt. Yair Yaakov Shushan of Ma’alot-Tarshiha was the oldest, at 23. Upon completion of his officer’s course last summer, he had received a certificate of excellence from the prime minister and the chief of staff.

A close friend since early childhood, Oz Weizman, told Kan Reshet Bet that Shushan had “lived with startling intensity,” while his high school principal called him “brilliant and determined with a lot of humility. He knew how to connect with everyone quickly.”

Staff Sgt. Guy Karmiel, 20, from Gedera, loved sports and diving and was “a very brave boy” who had been “extremely happy to be accepted to the Reconnaissance group, to see the most combat possible,” said his uncle, Tal Rivan.

Staff Sgt. Yahav Hadar, 20, from Kfar Tavor had graduated the Nahal course with honors, said his mother, Sharon, but “was very modest and made sure not to talk about himself. He always helped others, it was important to him to take care of his sisters and he was always concerned about their well-being.”

Staff Sgt. Yoav Feffer, 19, from Herzliya, was friends with Itay Regev, a Hamas hostage who was freed in November 2023 along with 85 other Israeli minors and women. Regev said he loved Feffer “with all his heart,” eulogizing him as one who “would bring light into every place he entered,” and vowing to memorialize him “in every possible way.”

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Staff Sgt. Aviel Wiseman, 20, was from the small village of Poria Illit near the Kinneret. Jordan Valley Regional Council head Idan Grinbaum mourned him as “the fourth generation of a fighting family” and the “salt of the earth.”

The IDF has been fighting for weeks to clear Beit Hanoun and other areas in the northern part of Gaza of the Hamas forces that have been rebuilt there in the last several months.