Jan 27, 2009 - An IDF NCO tracker was killed and three other soldiers wounded when an explosive device was detonated at an IDF patrol on the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip security fence near the Kissufim Crossing.
An Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda calling itself the 'Jihad and Tawhid Brigades' claimed responsibility for the attack.
The name of the 23-year-old Israel Defense Forces NCO killed near the Gaza border was withheld, at the request of the family. He served as a tracker with the Desert Patrol Battalion of the Givati Brigade.A mourning tent was erected at the entrance to the neighborhood of the Bedouin town in which he lived, with many of the residents coming to pay their condolences to the family.
Friends of the family said that he had lived with his parents and was planning to build a home in a new neighborhood under construction in the town. "He was a good man, entirely dedicated to the army," a neighbor said. "The family is religious, and his father is a sheikh, so they prefer to keep a low profile."
The soldier is survived by his wife and two children. He was buried in the local cemetery, with many members of the Bedouin community attending.