Menahem, 21, from Yardena; Shrem, 20, from Efrat; and Faktor, 19, from Rishon Letzion all served in the 52nd Armored Corps Battalion, 401st Brigade.
An officer, the tank commander, was seriously wounded.
The three were killed when their tank exploded in the midst of an attack by the 162nd Division in Jabaliya. It was first suspected that terrorists launched an anti-tank RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) that struck the tank, but later estimates suggest a defect in the tank caused the explosion, Kan News reported.
“The entire nation of Israel mourns the falling of the heroic armored corps fighters,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, eulogizing the three soldiers.
“Along with all of Israel’s citizens, my wife and I embrace the dear families and send our deepest condolences. We also pray for the full recovery of the person wounded in the incident,” he said.
“Our heroic soldiers fought with endless determination for the defeat of the Hamas murderers and the return of our hostages, and their sacrifice for the security of Israel will be remembered forever. May their memory be blessed and treasured in the hearts of the entire nation,” the prime minister said.
The deaths follow that of IDF Capt. Reei Biran, 21, on July 11, a squad commander in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, who hailed from Shorashim in the Lower Galilee.
Biran was reportedly killed when mines intended to demolish buildings used by Hamas terrorists were detonated, apparently accidentally. The IDF said the incident is under investigation.
On July 9, the military announced the death in Gaza of Master Sgt. (res.) Abraham Azulay, 25, from Yitzhar in Samaria, a heavy engineering vehicle operator in the Southern Command.
According to an initial IDF investigation, the incident occurred when Palestinian terrorists emerged from a tunnel and opened fire on Israeli troops in Khan Yunis. The attackers attempted to abduct Azulay, who resisted and was shot and killed during the struggle.
A day earlier, the IDF announced that five soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza.
The casualties were identified as Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, 20, from Jerusalem; Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, 20, from Jerusalem; Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, 20, from Jerusalem; Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin, 20, from Haifa; and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, 21, from Beit Shemesh.
The IDF is continuing to press ahead with ground operations across Gaza as part of “Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign to dismantle Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, take control of key areas in the Strip and secure the release of the 50 captives.
Israeli forces operating in Khan Yunis dismantled terrorist infrastructure and eliminated an armed cell in recent days, the IDF said on July 10.
The 188th “Barak” Armored Brigade, operating under the 36th “Rage” Armored Division, worked with the Israeli Air Force to target terrorist operatives and uncover tunnels, including a route nearly a kilometer long.
Separately, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) confirmed the targeted killing of Fadl Abu al-Ata, commander of Islamic Jihad’s Shejaiya sector in Gaza City.
