IDF Officer Lt. Col. Yuval Ezra Killed in West Bank Terror Attack

Lieutenant Colonel Yuval Ezra, 27, from Herzliya, was laid to rest on Sunday evening at the Beit Dagan cemetery after being killed in a terror attack near the Gilad Farm in the West Bank two days earlier. Ezra, a battery commander in the Artillery Corps' 411th Battalion, was responding to reports of a group of hikers entering the area without coordination when a confrontation erupted between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. During the clash, a Palestinian assailant seized a soldier's weapon and opened fire, killing Ezra and another soldier, Benyahu Malt, a member of the Gilad Farm security team.

Ezra was engaged to Timor, with whom he had recently become engaged and planned to marry in June next year. His mother, Tania, expressed her grief, saying, "My Yuvali, I don't know how to say goodbye," while his sister Daniel recalled his dedication to both family and the army. Timor, his fiancée, mourned him as a natural leader, saying she had asked him not to be a hero but he always led from the front.

Ezra is survived by his parents, Tania and Haim, his siblings Daniel and Ariel, and his fiancée Timor. The attack also resulted in the death of Benyahu Malt. This incident follows other recent stabbing attacks in the Samaria region, where one man was seriously injured and a soldier lightly wounded.

The IDF continues to investigate the circumstances of the attack and maintain security in the area amid ongoing tensions.