IDF Releases Names Of 2 Soldiers Killed In Gaza Fighting

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The IDF has released the names of two IDF soldiers who fell in battle in Gaza, both of whom studied in religious Zionist institutions before enlisting in the army.

– Sergeant Amit Bonzel, 22, from Shoham, fell in battle in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Amit studied in the Amit-Kfar Ganim yeshiva and was a member of the paratrooper commando unit in the IDF. Rav Nitzan Berger, the rosh yeshiva, remembered Amit as “a leader and trailblazer whereever he went who took life seriously from a young age, didn’t shirk hard work and sought to excel in whatever he did.”

Amit’s  father said that he had fought in the kibbutzim during the October 7th Hamas attacks and said that “What I saw there you don’t even see in Yad Vashem.” Amit was overjoyed to be able to go into Gaza and avenge the deaths of the people killed in the Hamas massacres. He told his parents that he had eliminated several snipers and hoped to eliminate more so that they wouldn’t endanger his soldiers.

Amit’s older brother Nadav is also fighting in Gaza and it took seven hours to get him out of the battle zone in order to enable him to attend his brother’s funeral.

–  Staff Sergeant Almanaw Emanuel Felke, 22, from Kiryat Gat, died on Wednesday from injuries sustained in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Emanuel had studied in the Tzfat Hesder yeshiva prior to his conscription to the IDF.

The number of fallen IDF soldiers since the start of the war has risen to 413, of whom over 300 fell on October 7th.

On Wednesday night, following pressure by the US, the Political-Security Cabinet approved an increase in the supply of fuel entering the Gaza Strip.

Most of the ministers supported the decision. Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir objected and voted against.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office said that the cabinet “approved the War Cabinet’s recommendation to allow the minimal addition of fuel necessary to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the outbreak of epidemics in the southern Gaza Strip.”