The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Monday that an evangelical Christian solder, Urija Bayer, 20, a commando serving in the Maglan reconnaissance unit, had died as a result of wounds sustained in combat on December 14 in the southern Gaza Strip.
Ynet News noted that Bayer’s parents, who are German, were on a mission to Israel to support elderly Holocaust survivors when they heard the news. “His grandparents dreamed of atoning for the Nazis’ atrocities against Jews … He left behind his parents, Gideon and Nili, a brother and two sisters.”
Bayer’s death was one of five announced on Monday, in a country where the names of fallen soldiers are the top news headline every day.
The Times of Israel reported that four of the deaths occurred during fighting in southern Gaza, and one occurred in the north:
The IDF said three soldiers were killed during fighting Sunday in southern Gaza, where troops have concentrated on taking control of Khan Younis. Some of the terror group’s senior officers are thought to have fled to the southern metropolis from Gaza City amid the IDF’s campaign in the northern Gaza Strip, where battles were also continuing.
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Additionally, the army announced that Sgt. First Class Urija Bayer, 20, a commando in the Maglan unit, died of wounds sustained in fighting in southern Gaza on December 14.
According to the IDF, 127 soldiers have died since the invasion of Gaza, and 459 since the Hamas terror attack of October 7.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.