Chief Sgt. First Class (res.) Yona “Efi” Efraim Feldbaum, 37, was killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday by Hamas sniper fire, the IDF announced on Wednesday.
The reservist was killed amid the latest Hamas violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The incident triggered a series of IDF strikes across the enclave against Hamas targets.
Feldbaum, a native of Zayit Ra’anan-Neria in the West Bank’s Binyamin region, was a combat engineer serving under the Gaza Division.
He is survived by a wife and five children.
According to a press release from the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, Feldbaum is the 59th fallen soldier from the Binyamin area.
“Efi was well known and loved throughout the region. He devoted much of his time to developing young settlements. Efi was deeply connected to the Land of Israel and fell while acting to defend it,” a statement released by the council read.
“He fought on the front line of the war in Gaza and continued even after the ceasefire, which has been repeatedly violated by Hamas terrorists, was declared,” the council head, Israel Ganz, said in a statement.
“On behalf of all the residents of Binyamin, I extend condolences to his wife Shulamit, his children, and his entire family. Thanks to Efi’s courage and sacrifice, the people of Israel will prevail. The people of Israel are not afraid of a long road,” Ganz continued.
IDF strikes in Gaza after Hamas violates ceasefire
Following the ceasefire violation that killed Feldbaum, the IDF struck in Gaza City as well as infrastructure that Hamas was using in southern Gaza.
“The response to [Hamas’s] current violations will be much more significant than the response last time,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.
In order to prevent Hamas from further endangering soldiers on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, the IDF is now returning fire, according to one military source.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Hamas’s attack on soldiers constituted “crossing a bright red line,” and that the army will “respond with great force.”
US President Donald Trump said that the truce in Gaza was still in effect, adding that he believed that when Hamas violates the ceasefire, Israel should respond.
“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.”
“Nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire, Trump continued. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave.”
“If they [Hamas] are good, they are going to be happy, and if they are not good, they are going to be terminated. Their lives will be terminated,” the US president said.
“Nobody knows what happened to the Israeli soldier, but they say it was sniper fire. And it was retribution for that, and I think they have a right to do that,” Trump went on to say.