Two IDF soldiers HAVE BEEN killed in separate incidents in the southern Gaza city

Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday in separate incidents in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, as ground operations resumed following the collapse of the ceasefire with Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Orbach, 20, from Zichron Yaakov, and Sergeant Yam Fried, 21, from Selait, lost their lives in explosions that occurred during combat operations.

Orbach, a soldier in the IDF’s 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed when an explosive device detonated inside a building the unit had entered, causing the structure to collapse. Another soldier in the battalion was seriously wounded in the same blast.

Fried, serving in the Golani Reconnaissance Unit, was killed during a separate incident in which a blast occurred as troops dismounted from an armored personnel carrier (APC). The IDF is investigating whether the explosion was caused by an anti-tank missile. In that incident, an officer from Golani and another from the 605th Battalion were also seriously injured.

Mourning Two Young Lives

Sergeant Orbach is survived by his wife Yuval, parents Noam and Efrat, and four siblings. He was laid to rest on Friday in the military section of the Zichron Yaakov cemetery. Orbach was an alumnus of the Bar Ilan Yeshiva of Arts and Sciences in Tel Aviv, where he studied in the music department, and later attended the Hasfin Hesder Yeshiva in the Golan Heights.

Rabbi Benny Pearl, head of the Bar Ilan Yeshiva, remembered Orbach as "gentle, talented, smiling, kind-hearted, and caring." He added: "There is no end to the depths of grief. Yishai was the talented trumpeter of the music department who came to the yeshiva every day with love and dedication." Family friend Odelia Kimchi described him as "a child of great kindness and love for others."

Sergeant Fried is survived by his parents Keren and Itzik, and his brothers Yahli and Din. His funeral was held at the military cemetery in Selait. He graduated from the Ami Assaf Educational Center in the South Sharon region.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, paid tribute at Fried’s funeral, saying: “Yam was a hero. He fought so that we could all live here in security. We embrace the community of Selait and his grieving family.”

Rising Toll in Gaza Operations

The deaths of Orbach and Fried bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the IDF resumed operations in Rafah to eight.

Last week, Captain Noam Ravid and Sergeant Yahli Sharor were killed in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) in Rafah. Two weeks ago, Sergeant Neta Yitzhak Kahane and Captain Ido Walloch were killed in fighting in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City. Earlier that week, Reserve Sergeant Assaf Kafri was killed by sniper fire in northern Gaza. A week prior, Sergeant Galeb Suleiman al-Nassara was killed in an IED explosion in Beit Hanoun. Additionally, Retired Sergeant Daniel Sahlo died in an operational vehicle accident in the Gaza periphery earlier this week.

The IDF continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the latest incidents, while fighting in Rafah intensifies amid international concern over the humanitarian situation and growing calls for a renewed ceasefire.