‘The best of the best’: Officers, soldiers killed in deadly Gaza ambush laid to rest
Top IDF brass attend funerals, with Col. Ben Basat, highest ranking officer killed in ground incursion, Lt. Col. Grinberg, head of Golani’s 13th battalion, among those laid to rest.
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) Funerals were held Wednesday in Israel for troops killed in Gaza’s Shejaiya neighbourhood the previous day, in a battle that claimed the lives of nine soldiers.
Among those laid to rest were senior officers Col. Yitzhak Ben Basat and Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, who were mourned by some of the army’s top brass.
The battle in Shejaiya was one of the most deadly encounters since the beginning of the Israeli ground incursion into the Strip on October 27. Many of the Israel Defense Forces’ most senior officers attended the funerals of their comrades who fell in the fight.
On X, President Isaac Herzog eulogized the fallen troops as the “best of the best, heroes among heroes who fell in battle to defend their people and homeland, and leave behind a gaping absence… in all of our hearts.”
Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, head of the Golani Brigade chief’s forward command team, was the most senior IDF officer to have been killed in the ground offensive against Hamas. He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Kfar Tavor.
“All night I tried to write, I couldn’t get to it and my heart is dying to say goodbye,” said Hadar, Ben Basat’s wife. “This morning I woke up and we cried, the kids and I. Five broken hearts that love you and are connected to you.”
His mother, Edna, said in her eulogy: “In my eyes, you were invincible. I was sure that you had a special protection. There are many things I want to say about you, you are my child, unique and special.”
The head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, recalled that Ben Basat was on holiday ahead of his retirement from the IDF when the October 7 massacre happened, and took a jeep to help rescue residents under fire. The officer decided to remain in the service once the war broke out.
“From the moment you fell, I started running through our first meeting in my head. A short meeting was enough for us, you stood out with quiet leadership, strived for contact, set norms, and joined the group that every battalion commander dreamed of. Together we grew, and I learned a chapter in responsible leadership from you. We will continue in your spirit until victory,” he said.
The funeral of Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, was held at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery. Ashira Grinberg, Tomer’s wife, said she’d decided to read a letter she’d written for his recent birthday as part of the eulogy.
“Congratulations my love. [Our daughter] Arbel made you a drawing with a blessing and she is so happy with the idea. I have so much to tell you and share with you but this is not the time. When everything is over, we will have all the time in the world to celebrate life together and our decision to be together,” she read.
Ashira said she believed her husband had come “into this world for this time period,” noting “your ability to keep your cool, to command others, and to be an inspirational and motivating character, to elicit trust from countless people, your subordinates and also other soldiers in the IDF.”
Maj. Gen. David Zini, who heads the IDF’s Training Command, praised Grinberg for his “calm, patient and welcoming” demeanor, adding that he was “determined and radiated inexplicable courage.”
Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, 23, a company commander in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, was buried in Ra’anana. His partner Louisa expressed her disbelief that she was standing at his funeral.
“You were my best friend. You gave light everywhere you went. Love of my life, thank you for coming into my life and for three amazing years. You were the epitome of the best in the world. You told me that after the war you wanted to buy a ring and propose to me. So a thousand times yes. I love you forever, you will always be a part of me.”
The funeral for Maj. Roei Meldasi, 23, a company commander in the 13th Battalion, was held in the military cemetery of the northern city of Afula.
“You always called me and your father the king and queen, your favorites,” his mother Yosefa said in her eulogy.
“Roei my love, everything I had to say to you, I said last night in silence, so that nobody would hear. It was our great privilege to raise you to be part of your life.”
Sgt. Eran Aloni, 19, of the 51st Battalion, among the youngest who died in battle Tuesday, was laid to rest at a Beersheba cemetery.
“You are indeed a hero of Israel, but first of all, a hero of the family,” his father, Doron said. “You were a flower that had only just begun to bloom… You loved this country, and we are proud of your achievements.”
The other slain soldiers were Cpt. Liel Hayo, 22, a platoon commander in the 51st Battalion, from Shoham; Sgt. Achia Daskal, 19, a soldier in the 51st Battalion, from Haifa; Maj. Ben Shelly, 26, a squad commander in the Israeli Air Force’s Unit 669, from Kidron; and Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, 20, of Unit 669, from Givatayim.
The troops were carrying out search operations in the heart of Shejaiya in northern Gaza Wednesday when they were hit by an ambush. The neighborhood is seen as one of the most heavily fortified Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza.
The military believes Hamas’s Shejaiya battalion’s command and control is largely disrupted, and the terror group is operating in the area in a less organized manner, with smaller squads. The military did not give an indication of how many operatives were killed in the fight. Hamas has not made any statements about the battle.
The deadly incident continued the Golani Brigade’s bitter connection with Shejaiya. During the 2014 Gaza war, seven brigade soldiers were killed when their APC was hit in fighting in Shejaiya. The remains of one of the seven, Sgt. Oron Shaul, were captured by Hamas and are still in the terror group’s hands.
Grinberg’s 13th Battalion was also one of the hardest hit units during the October 7 Hamas onslaught, when some 3,000 terrorists overran IDF bases and communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking a further 240 hostage. The battalion lost 41 soldiers that day. Nevertheless, they have been involved in some of the heaviest fighting since the launch of the ground operation, aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military force in the Strip.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
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