One of the deadliest occurrences for the Israel Defense Forces in months occurred Tuesday when an explosive device struck an armored vehicle carrying seven soldiers during battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
A bomb on an IDF "Puma" combat engineering vehicle exploded near Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, while ground operations were still in progress. All seven of the men inside were killed when the explosion caused a fire that spread throughout the vehicle.
The 605th Combat Engineering Battalion was where they were all assigned.
- Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, 21 (Kfar Yona)
- Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben‑Moshe, 20 (Rehovot)
- Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, 20 (Elyakhin)
- Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, 19 (Mazkeret Batya)
- Sgt. Shahar Manoav, 21 (Ashkelon)
- Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, 20 (Eshhar)
- Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov, 21 (Kiryat Yam), a medic
Israel now has 440 dead in its ground battle against Hamas in Gaza and military operations near the Strip's border.
The soldiers were driving in Khan Younis when a Palestinian terrorist planted a bomb on their Puma armored combat engineering vehicle, according to an initial IDF investigation.
The CEV caught fire as a result of the detonation, and attempts to put it out failed. The fire killed every soldier inside. Later, the CEV's charred remnants were pulled out of Gaza.
In another incident in the Khan Younis region, an RPG launched at a D9 armored bulldozer the 605th Battalion was operating on caused two soldiers to be wounded, one critically and one mildly.
"Our soldiers fought heroically and fell during their mission to defend the State of Israel and return our hostages," wrote Defense Minister Israel Katz on X on Wednesday, along with condolences for their families.
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