One of the five IDF soldiers killed on Wednesday in a friendly fire incident in the northern Gaza Strip was Sgt. Ilan Cohen, a lone soldier from Argentina.
After completing high school in Argentina, Cohen made aliyah and studied at the Chabad yeshiva (Torah seminary) in Migdal Ha’emek, and then at the Har Bracha yeshiva, up until this past December when he enlisted into the IDF. His parents were informed by the Israeli Consulate of his death.
“The Jewish community in Argentina mourns… the death of Sergeant Ilan Cohen, a lone soldier, who was killed in the battles in the Gaza Strip,” tweeted Rabbi Eliahu Hamra of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center.
“We share in his family’s deep sorrow and send our condolences to his parents David and Adriana,” he wrote. “May his memory be a blessing.”
Two IDF tanks accidentally killed five soldiers and injured seven more in a friendly fire incident on Wednesday when they fired on a forward IDF battalion headquarters in Jabalya in northern Gaza.
Recibimos la estremecedora noticia de la muerte de Ilán Cohen, un joven argentino que formaba parte de las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel y falleció combatiendo en Gaza. Abrazamos a su familia y seres queridos en este momento de tanto dolor, y rezamos por la elevación de su alma. pic.twitter.com/gC8AeOk3bx
— Rab Eliahu Hamra (@EliahuHamra) May 15, 2024
The incident
Two IDF tanks killed five IDF soldiers and injured seven more in a friendly fire incident on Wednesday when they fired on a forward IDF battalion headquarters in Jabalya in northern Gaza.
The tanks were said to be under extreme pressure from dozens of rocket-propelled grenade attacks in the area.
The other four soldiers killed in the incident were:
Sergeant Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, from Eli, was a combat officer in Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade.
Sergeant Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias, was a soldier in Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade.
Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron, was a soldier in Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade.
Staff Sergeant Betzlel David Shashuah, 21, from Tel Aviv, was a soldier in Battalion 202, Paratroopers Brigade.