JERUSALEM (VINnews) — BDE: Sergeant Major (Res.) Malkia Gross, 25, from Susya, fell in combat in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the IDF announced later that day. Gross is the fourth resident of Susya to full in battle in the Swords of Iron campaign.
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Gross served in the 9212th Battalion of the 205th “Iron Fist” Brigade, which is operating in the area of Rafah. He was posthumously promoted to Sgt.-Maj.
Gross fell in an operational accident in a tank, according to Ynet. The IDF stated that the circumstances of the accident are being investigated.
The IDF has been focusing its efforts on the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military estimates that dismantling the Rafah Brigade will not take much longer than a couple of weeks.
The head of the Har Chevron local council eulogized Malkia, stating that he was in the process of completing his studies as a math teacher, but had already started teaching and was loved by his students and friends. Malkia was always seen with a sefer in his hands.
Friends from his battalion described him as a beloved comrade and a big Talmid Chacham, a disciple of Rabbi Chaim Druckman zts’l. Malkia was “humble and sweet in a special way. He left academic studies in the sciences to study Torah and pedagogy.”
Malkia also had “a sweet and charming humor, a sharp person with a smile at all times. He would make podcasts on many topics, it was a pleasure to hear. We have suffered a great loss.”
