Posted on 09/18/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
Tel Aviv, Israel - Sept. 18, 2025 - The IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced that four soldiers were killed by an explosive device in the Rafah area. The hummer in which the soldiers were riding struck the IED.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Major Omri Chai Ben Moshe, aged 26, from Tzafria, Lieutenant Ron Arieli, aged 20, from Hadera, Lieutenant Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, aged 22, from Har Brakha, and Lieutenant Eran Shelem, aged 23, from Ramat Yohanan.
In the incident in which Major Omri Chai Ben Moshe, Lieutenant Ron Arieli, Lieutenant Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, and Lieutenant Eran Shelem fell, a cadet in the “Dekel” Battalion, Officers’ Training School was severely injured.
The cadet was evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment, and his family has been notified. Two other cadets were injured.
The IDF is investigating a suspicion that a Hamas sniper fired at them before detonating the IED, during a routine activity on the Philadelphi Route.
Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan, a relative of Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, eulogized him: "Eitan grew up in a value-driven, Zionist family, a Torah scholar, a strong believer in settling the land, a frontline fighter, dedicated. Naturally, they established their home in Har Bracha. At their wedding, they held a special memorial for their fallen friends. Our hearts break for the youth, for the family that should have flourished here in Samaria, but now will not.
"Dear Atara, daughter of a longstanding Har Bracha family, who grew up here and brought him to Samaria, now we must accompany him on his final journey. All of us—the council and the settlement—will support the Ben-Yitzhak and Steinbach families in every way possible during this difficult hour. We will strengthen each other and never break; we are here to build the land and prevail."
The Har Bracha community stated: "We share in the grief of Atara, a resident who got married only about two months ago. We stand with Atara and the Steinbach family, a longstanding and rooted family in the community, who raise their eight children with dedication in the heart of Samaria."