IDF Soldiers Killed in Operation Cast Lead

(December 27, 2008 - January 18, 2009)

During Operation Cast Lead, the ground operation of the Israel Defense Forces against Hamas terror in the Gaza Strip from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009, nine Israeli soldiers were killed.

• Jan 4, 2009 - Staff Sgt. Dvir Emanuelof, 22, of Giv'at Ze'ev, was killed when a mortar shell landed in proximity to his patrol near Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip;19 other soldiers were wounded.
• Jan 5, 2009 - Three IDF soldiers of the Golani Brigade were killed when a tank accidentally fired a live round at an abandoned building in Jabalya, in which Golani forces were taking cover:

  • Maj. Dagan Wartman, 32, of Ma'ale Michmash, a medical officer
  • Staff Sgt. Nitai Stern, 21, of Jerusalem
  • Cpl. Yousef Muadi, 19, of Haifa
• Jan 6, 2009 - IDF Paratroop officer, Capt. Yehonatan Netanel, 27, of Kedumim was killed in north Gaza during the early hours of the morning by an errant IDF tank shell.
• Jan 6, 2009 - Staff Sgt. Alexander Mashvitzky, 21, of Beersheba, from an elite Combat Engineering unit, was killed while on an IDF patrol in northern Gaza City, when a terrorist cell opened fire.
• Jan 8, 2009 - Maj. Roi Rosner, 27, of Holon, a company commander from the Kfir infantry brigade was killed during a fire-fight in the central Gaza Strip, when terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at his unit.
• Jan 8, 2009 - Sgt. Amit Robinson, 20, of Kibbutz Magal, of the Armored Corps, was killed by Palestinian sniper fire in the northern Gaza Strip.
• Jan 8, 2009 - Capt. Omer Rabinovitch, 23 of Arad, a Golani commander was killed during exchanges of fire in the northern Gaza Strip.