St-Sgt Kobi Nir

Aug 25, 2001 - Kobi Nir, 21, of Kfar Sava was killed when two Palestinian terrorists infiltrated an IDF base in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip. The attackers, members of the PLO Fatah faction and of the Palestinian security forces, were killed by IDF soldiers.

At about 3:00 AM Saturday morning, three Palestinians crept toward the Marganit IDF outpost built to protect the settlement of Atzmona, in the southern end of Gush Katif. The terrorists charged into the outpost, threw hand grenades and opened fire.

A task force, led by Maj. Gil Oz, the deputy battalion commander in the Givati Brigade, arrived at the outpost several minutes after it was infiltrated. Nir, a medic, was in the midst of a telephone conversation with his girlfriend, Efrat, also a soldier, when he was called to accompany Major Oz to the fatal attack. He was killed while trying to give emergency medical aid to Oz, his commanding officer, who was fatally shot by gunfire. Sgt. Tzahi Grabli was also killed and seven soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Kobi Nir attended the ORT school in Kfar Sava and volunteered to the Givati Brigade when he was drafted into the army in August 1999. He was proud of his service as a medic in the brigade.

Kobi Nir was buried in the military section of the Kfar Sava cemetery. He is survived by his parents, his sister Rachel (29) and brother Dan (15).