Two Israeli soldiers lost their lives during intense fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the casualties as it pushed forward with a new operation against Hamas in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Yair Avitan, 20, from Ra'anana, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum, 21, from Ma'ale Adumim.
As reported by the Times of Israel, Avitan, from Ra'anana, was a graduate of local schools including Amit Kfar Batya Scientific-Technological High School. He leaves behind parents Einat and Maimon, and three younger siblings. Tatelbaum, a graduate of Amit Eitan High School in Ma'ale Adumim, was remembered by his principal as a "gentle and modest student who was loved by his friends and teachers." His former educator, Eitan Tzarum, described him as an outstanding student who "loved to learn and delve deep." Both young men were killed in separate incidents in Shejaiya – Avitan in an encounter with a hidden militant, and Tatelbaum by sniper fire.
Their deaths mark the first IDF fatalities in this latest incursion into Shejaiya, an area where Israeli forces had previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas's local battalion.