This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.
An Israeli Black Hawk helicopter has gone down while engaged in operations in south Gaza, which is a first of the war which has raged for over ten months.
Two soldiers were killed, and eight were injured in the crash and have been rushed to hospitals. The two deceased have been subsequently identified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as 37-year old Sgt. Maj. Daniel Alloush of Tel Aviv and 38-year old Sgt. Maj. Tom Ish-Shalom of Nes Harim. Both were part of reserve forces.
Illustrative file image: Israeli AF
Military officials are describing it as a crash and not the result of enemy ground fire, but which resulted in serious damage to the aircraft. It happened in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. It has been identified as a UH-60 Black Hawk from the 123rd Squadron.
“According to an initial IAF probe, a UH-60 Black Hawk from the 123rd Squadron flew to Rafah with a Unit 669 medical team on Tuesday night to evacuate a combat engineer seriously wounded in fighting in the area,” Israeli media details.
“During the final landing stage inside an Israeli army encampment in Rafah at around 12:30 a.m., the helicopter impacted the ground instead of touching down correctly,” the same report continues.
If the Black Hawk had crashed in a more open area with active Hamas militants, there’s a high chance that the eight injured may not have made it out. But given it occurred within the confines of an IDF forward operating base, it appears the emergency response was immediate and rapid, perhaps saving more lives.
Aftermath of the crash, via Israeli military/TOI
Some among the wounded are said to be critical. According to more from the Times of Israel based on military statements:
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at SHTF Plan