Respected leader of Israel’s secretive ‘Ghost’ commando unit is killed fighting Hamas as officials praise his ‘bravery’

• Colonel Roy Levy, 44, was the commander of Unit 888, set up to tackle Hamas
• READ MORE: Israel Palestine conflict news LIVE: Death toll surpasses 1,000

The commander of a crack team of Israeli troops known as a the Ghost unit was killed fighting Hamas when the militants first struck in southern Israel, it has emerged.

Colonel Roy Levy, 44, was the leader of the Multidimensional Unit – a secretive group of commandos established to tackle Hamas using drones and other modern warfare techniques.

He was killed as his forces battled Hamas fighters in the community of Re’im, near the border with Gaza where as many as 260 festivalgoers were killed when violence erupted on Saturday.

The Israeli Defense Force said Levy ‘led his team bravely, engaged [the terrorists], and entered the battle first in Kibbutz Re’im, in order to save citizens who were besieged in their homes.’ 

Around 10 Palestinian terrorists were killed during Saturday’s battle, the IDF said. It added in its statement on Levy’s death that it ‘shares in the family’s grief.’

Colonel Roy Levy, 44, was the leader of the Multidimensional Unit – a secretive group of commandos established to tackle Hamas

File image shows Israeli soldiers at the southern Israeli town of Ofakim, southern Israel, on October 8

An Israeli tank drives on a road following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, near Sderot in southern Israel

The Ghost unit – officially Unit 888 ‘Refaim’ – was established in 2019, and is said to engage in secret reconnaissance missions to root out Hamas.

Col Levy is among the dozens of soldiers now confirmed killed in the violence, with Hamas claiming its fighters are still present in Israel.

A British-born soldier was revealed as one of the first to lose his life after the conflict escalated on Saturday. 

Nathanel Young, from London, was serving in the 13th Battalion of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) when he was killed yesterday, according to the IDF.

His heartbroken family paid tribute to their son who was ‘the life of the party’. 

The IDF is publishing all the names of the soldiers killed after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was on a ‘war-footing’.

The Israeli government formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for its surprise attack.

The declaration came as the military tried to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The toll passed 1,000 dead and thousands wounded on both sides.

More than 24 hours after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion out of Gaza, Israeli forces were still trying to defeat the last groups of militants holed up in several towns.

Nathanel Young, from London, was serving in the 13th Battalion of the Israeli Defence Forces when he was killed yesterday

At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel, a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades, and more than 300 have been killed in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes pound the territory.

The Israeli rescue service Zaka said its paramedics removed about 260 bodies from a music festival attended by thousands that came under attack.

The total figure is expected to be higher as other paramedic teams were working in the area.

Video on social media and Israeli news outlets showed dozens of festivalgoers running through an open field as gunshots rang out. Many hid in nearby fruit orchards or were gunned down as they fled.

The declaration of war portended greater fighting ahead, and a major question was whether Israel would launch a ground assault into Gaza, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties.

Source: Read Full Article