Himmelfarb graduate Yuval Shoham killed in Northern Gaza

Staff Sergeant Yuval Shoham, 22, was killed Sunday during combat operations in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. His death brings the total casualties in the sector to 40 troops since October.

Shoham, who served with the prestigious 9th Battalion of the 401st "Iron Trails" Armored Brigade, was the ninth graduate of Jerusalem's Himmelfarb High School to be killed since the war began on October 7. The school's mounting losses have become a symbol of the conflict's toll on Israel's tight-knit communities.

Military correspondents report that operations in the Jabaliya area, where Shoham was killed, have been continuous since early October. Israeli forces claim to have neutralized approximately 2,500 militants in the sector and detained another 2,000 during this period.

"The IDF shares in the family's grief and will continue to support them," a military spokesperson said in a statement. Further details about the circumstances of Shoham's death were not immediately available.

According to the Times of Israel, "separately, a soldier with the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion was seriously wounded during fighting with Hamas operatives in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun today."