Captain Alon Sacgiu, 22, dies in explosion in Jenin, 17 injured

Captain Alon Sacgiu22, from Hadera, commander of the sniper team of the Haruv Reconnaissance Unit of the Kfir Brigade, fell during an operational activity in the Jenin area, the IDF announced on Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli soldier was killed and 16 others wounded by roadside bombs while operating in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank early Thursday, the army announced.

The IDF had been carrying out a night raid in Jenin with the aim of capturing members of a Hamas terrorist network in the city and the adjacent refugee camp.

According to an initial IDF investigation, a Panther armored personnel carrier (APC) was hit by a bomb placed under a road in Jenin during the operation, around midnight between Wednesday and Thursday. Soldiers inside the APC were slightly injured by the explosion. As additional forces arrived on the scene and worked to evacuate the wounded soldiers, another bomb exploded, resulting in the death of the Captain Sacgiu and the injury of additional troops, according to The Times of Israel.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

In total, 16 soldiers were injured by the bombs: one seriously, five moderately, including an officer and a paramedic, and the rest lightly, including an officer and a reservist.

Before the armored vehicle proceeded down the road where the attack took place, a D9 military bulldozer and a backhoe scraped the road to uncover possible improvised explosive devices. Armed groups in Jenin frequently place improvised explosive devices under roads to attack Israeli forces carrying out arrest raids and, as such, the military tears up roads with armored bulldozers before moving in with lighter armed vehicles. .

Still, the two large IEDs were not discovered by the bulldozer and backhoe, and the military believes they were placed much deeper in the ground than usual. The IDF was also investigating how the bombs were triggered, whether by wire or wirelessly.

After the damage suffered to the vehicle, an engineering vehicle arrived at the scene to remove it. Shortly after, another armored vehicle arrived and soldiers disembarked to help those in the first vehicle. However, they stepped on a second explosive device that was placed there.

According to the IDF’s initial investigation, the killed soldier and the most seriously injured were outside their armored vehicle when the second bomb exploded. The APC was able to largely protect the soldiers from the initial attack, with only minor injuries from the explosion and smoke inhalation.

The military is now researching how to better detect these improvised explosive devices and how to more safely remove injured soldiers from such incidents.

Sacgui and all those injured in the incident were the soldiers who got out of the second vehicle. There were no injuries in the first vehicle that passed over the first explosive device.

The soldier was evacuated for medical treatment at a hospital and his family was notified.

IDF soldier near Jenin (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

All injured soldiers have been evacuated to hospitals for immediate medical treatment.

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