Sgt. Za'ur (Zohar) Smelev
May 12, 2004 - Sgt. Za'ur (Zohar) Smelev, 19, of Ofakim was one of five IDF soldiers killed when their armored personnel carrier exploded, apparently hit by an anti-tank rocket.
The APC, part of a military convoy traveling on the border road between Egypt and Rafah on the Philadelphi Route, was transporting dozens of kilograms of explosives to be used to detonate weapon-smuggling tunnels along the Israeli-Egyptian border near Rafah. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, in which five were killed and three wounded.
Smelev, of Ofakim, joined the army about a year ago. His family immigrated to Israel ten years ago from Caucasia. “He was like my brother,” his friend Boris Yisraelov said. “He was a soldier who could not hurt a fly and who could not do any harm to anyone,” he said.
Sgt. Zohar Smelev was buried in the Ofakim Military Cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Yuri and Larissa, an older sister who lives in Dimona and a younger brother and sister.