Israeli Soldier Killed in Hamas Abduction Attempt in Gaza
An Israeli reserve soldier was killed Tuesday during an attempted abduction by Hamas gunmen in southern Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The soldier was identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Abraham Azulay, 25, a heavy engineering operator with the Southern Command’s combat engineering unit, from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar.
Azulay was operating an excavator during an IDF engineering operation in the Abasan al-Kabira area near Khan Younis when Hamas fighters emerged from a tunnel and attacked.
In a Telegram post, the IDF said Azulay resisted the attackers before being shot and killed. Militants attempted to take his body, but Israeli forces opened fire and repelled the assault.
Earlier Wednesday, Hamas’s military wing said its fighters had attempted to capture a soldier east of Khan Younis but were unable to do so due to “field conditions,” so they killed him and took his weapon.
The following day, Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades released a video showing militants targeting Israeli vehicles and bulldozers with RPGs, followed by close-quarters combat. Two gunmen are seen approaching an Israeli soldier and appearing to kill him with a shot to the head.
Azulay, a former paratrooper, had returned to reserve duty despite a prior desertion sentence. He was reinstated to the rank of sergeant first class posthumously, a decision approved by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Azulay had been married three months before his death and is survived by his wife, Ruth, and his family.
The incident came a day after five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in a roadside bombing during a ground operation in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll—all from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion—and Sgt. First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin of the Northern Brigade.
