IDF Names 2 Soldiers Killed In Central Gaza Explosion On Monday

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — BDE: The IDF announced the deaths of two reservists who were killed during fighting in the central Gaza Strip on Monday.

They two were named as:

• Master Sgt. (res.) Ido Aviv, 28, of the Yiftah Brigade’s 9232nd Battalion, from Karmiel.

Ido Aviv HyD

Ido, son of Amy and Mark Aviv (Ashkenazi), was a surfing instructor living in Kiryat Bialik. Friends described him as “full of love of life” and as one who instructed hundreds of local children and imparted surfing skills. Ido’s parents donated his organs for medical purposes.

• Master Sgt. (res.) Kalkidan Maharim 37, of the Carmeli Brigade’s 223rd Battalion, from Petah Tikva.

Kalkidan Mahari HyD

Kalkidan’s family said that they had not even known he was in Gaza, after he had served five months of reserve duty on the northern border prior to being reassigned to the Gaza strip. Leah his sister said that he was “an amazing man who loved the country, whenever called to reserve duty he went proudly to serve, like all of the younger soldiers. He was a lone soldier who immigrated to serve in the IDF, one of a family of ten children from Ethiopia. Leah described him as “the heart of the family, loved by all for his humility and respect of all other people.”

Their deaths bring the toll of slain troops in the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas to 263.

The pair were killed and another soldier of the 223rd Battalion was seriously wounded as a result of a blast during a battle with gunmen in the Netzarim Corridor area, according to an initial IDF investigation.

The cause of the explosion is still being probed.