Master Sgt. Asaf Kafri from Beit Hashmonai Killed in Gaza

Israel is at war, and the IDF has announced that Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Kafri, 26, from Beit Hashmonai, a tank driver in Battalion 79 of the “Strike” Brigade (14), was killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip. Three other soldiers were wounded in the same incident.

Last night, more details emerged about the deadly incident. The soldiers, mostly reserve tank crew members, were traveling in a tank along the administrative corridor in the buffer zone of northern Gaza, near Beit Hanoun. At some point, they exited the tank for an operational task, leaving themselves exposed.

Terrorists then fired an anti tank missile that missed, but simultaneously carried out sniper fire that struck, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Two of the wounded are in serious condition, and the third is moderately injured.

Reports indicate the administrative corridor where the incident occurred is the same one where a similar event took place last Saturday, in which IDF tracker Galeb Nassasra was killed. The attack happened just a few hundred meters from Saturday’s site, near a different IDF outpost in the buffer zone, not the exact same one.

The incident occurred just a few hundred meters from the Gaza border, in an area under continuous IDF control for months, not recently captured territory.

The IDF is investigating whether the terrorist cell behind Saturday’s ambush, which killed the tracker, is the same one responsible for today’s attack. After Saturday’s incident, the IDF failed to eliminate the cell, raising the possibility that it returned to the same area today for a similar operation.

Following the attack, the IDF launched a broad wave of airstrikes and artillery bombardments, targeting around 40 Hamas terror sites in northern Gaza.

Palestinian sources reported IDF artillery fire and smoke screening, alongside drone-dropped bombs, in the area of the town of Abasan al-Kabira, a suburb of Khan Younis.

Additional Palestinian reports indicate airstrikes by fighter jets in the Al-Manara neighborhood of Khan Younis, where casualties have already been reported. In Gaza, according to Palestinian sources, overnight reports confirmed deaths and injuries following an attack at the "Traffic Light Intersection" in the eastern part of the city. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry announced that the "Mohammed al-Dura" children’s hospital is out of service, marking it the 37th healthcare facility rendered inoperable since October 7.