Following the announcement of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that seven Golani Brigade soldiers and two special forces rescuers fell in battle in Gaza, including a colonel and lieutenant colonel, the Israeli Army Radio released initial details from the incident.
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"The commanders in the field showed courage and composure, commanded from the front and jumped to help and rescue the wounded warriors. As part of the heroic battle, some of the commanders and fighters who came to help and rescue the force in the building were killed," the IDF said in a statement, along with footage from the battle.
Video: Footage from the battle in Shuja'iyya / IDF Spokesperson's Unit
It started when a combat team of the 53rd Battalion in the Golani Brigade was clearing buildings in a fortified area of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza, particularly compounds being used by Hamas.
Upon entry into a building, the IDF team was ambushed. Grenades were thrown, explosive charges exploded and shots were fired, resulting in four Israeli soldiers being injured and disconnected from their battalion.
Additional forces outside the building also received fire and waged a battle against terrorists, while the company commander Major Moshe Avram Bar Ont, the platoon commander Captain Liel Hayo, and Sergeants Achia Daskal and Eran Aloni were feared kidnapped from inside the building, taken through a tunnel shaft in the compound.
The policy for feared kidnappings is to immediately send the brigade's senior commanders from nearby sectors, with reinforcements, and to flank the area from several directions. As such, two battalion commanders jumped to the incident, including Tomer Grinberg and another lieutenant colonel.
Grinberg's 13th Battalion flanked the embattled compound from the north, while another battalion pulled back with the casualties and then provided a situational picture for the responding forces.
In the meantime, the special rescue unit 669 arrived at the compound and attempted to break down the door to get inside. But ambushing terrorists had taken hold of nearby buildings and were firing upon the entire entrance area to the building. Major Ben Shelly and Sergeant First Class Rom Hecht were wounded and killed.
Golani Brigade commander, Colonel Yair Palai, sent his deputy, the commanding officer of his forward Command and control, Colonel Itzhak Ben Basat, to lead the battle from the front in order, tasked with quickly reaching the area, to prevent the enemy forces from escaping with kidnapped soldiers, to prevent additional terrorist forces from arriving in other areas, and to rescue wounded soldiers.
As the Golani deputy commander arrived at the building to rescue the 669 rescuers, terrorists were encountered and began firing from various directions. In this battle Colonel Ben Basat was hit and killed. The IDF troops managed in the end to secure the area, to enter the building, and rescue the wounded.
Once inside, it became clear the heroic actions of the disconnected team, while others were still fighting to keep the area secure and prevent additional enemy forces from approaching. It was at this time that Lieutenant Colonel Grinberg fought off terrorists, but a missile was fired from a nearby building, collapsing the building along with secondary explosions likely from other explosive devices inside. He was killed along with his company commander Major Roei Meldas.
Air fire had also been used to aid the battle from the north and west, and to prevent terrorists from approaching from the direction of Darj Tufah neighborhood. In total, the battle lasted about three hours.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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