IDF Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Shimon Yehoshua Asulin, 24, from Beit Shemesh, fell in battle in southern Gaza on Saturday, the IDF announced on Sunday morning.

Asulin served in the 924th Combat Engineer Battalion in the 10th "Harel" Brigade.

He was posthumously promoted from the rank of sergeant to the rank of sergeant-major.

Asulin's death brings the number of IDF servicemen and women to have lost their lives since the October 7 Hamas attacks to 562.

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. February 3, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. February 3, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
His funeral will be held on Sunday, February 4, at 13:30 at the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem. 
Asulin's brother Yisrael said of him: "He was discharged from the army a month and a half ago, and since then, he was not at peace that he was not in Gaza; a week ago, he managed to rejoin his company. He wanted to give his soul to the people of Israel - and here he succeeded. He was made of steel, I don't know how the bullets penetrated his muscles."