Cleared for Release: Sgt. Rotem Yanai Killed in Explosive Drone Strike in Northern Israel

The IDF Spokesperson cleared for publication this morning (Thursday) that Sgt. Rotem Yanai, of blessed memory, was killed yesterday in an attack by explosive drones that crossed in from لبنان and struck the Shomera outpost in the western Galilee. Rotem, 20, from Givat Ada, served as a welfare NCO in the Rotem Battalion (435) of the Givati Brigade. With her death, she became the 12th fallen soldier since the ceasefire in Lebanon took effect.

A preliminary investigation indicates that around 2:45 p.m., Hezbollah launched several explosive drones toward the military outpost near the border. The IDF said an alert was activated shortly before the impact, after which a powerful explosion was heard in the camp area. The first drone struck the outpost and caused Rotem’s death. In a separate incident, another drone hit a nearby area, and as a result two reservists were wounded and evacuated to the hospital for treatment. Their families were notified.

It later became clear that during the drone attack, a “Patish Avir” alert was activated in the community of Shomera for several minutes. When the alert was triggered, one of the explosive drones exploded in an open area and caused a large fire in the area. Two fighters from the emergency response squad of the nearby community of Goren were called to the scene to help handle the incident, but when they arrived in an area near the military camp, another explosive drone struck their vehicle directly. Both were injured in the incident.

The head of the Binyamina-Givat Ada Council, Gil Hanania, eulogized Rotem: “I was with Rotem’s family, of blessed memory, together with our council teams. The pain is so great and impossible to grasp, a terrible tragedy,” he said. According to him, “The family’s home in Givat Ada filled last night with military personnel who came to inform the family of the news of Rotem’s death, of blessed memory.”

Hanania added: “For long minutes, Rotem’s mother, Hilit, embraced Lilach, the mother of Yoav, of blessed memory, a son of Givat Ada who fell near his home at the Regavim base of the Golani Brigade, when a Hezbollah drone landed at the base and struck the dining hall.”