Col. Itzhak Ben Basat (left) and Sgt. Eran Aloni, killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2023.
The IDF announces the deaths of two more soldiers who were killed yesterday fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 115.
The two are named as Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, head of the Golani Brigade’s commander’s team, from Sde Ya’akov; and Sgt. Eran Aloni, 19, of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Ofakim.
Both were killed during the same battle in which seven members of the Golani Brigade were killed when they were ambushed in Shejaiya, a Gaza City suburb.
Ben Basat, who was set to retire from the IDF but decided to stay on when the war broke out, is the most senior officer to have been killed in the ground offensive against Hamas. He previously served as head of the Yiftah Brigade.
Soldiers killed fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip on December 12, 2023: Top: L-R: Maj. Roei Meldasi, Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, Sgt. Achia Daskal, Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, Cpt. Liel Hayo; bottom: Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, Maj. Ben Shelly, Sgt. Eran Aloni, and Col. Itzhak Ben Basat.
