Sgt.-Maj. Yona Betzalel Brief, a 23-year-old soldier, died of injuries from Hamas’s October 7 attack, the Israel Defence Forces announced on Tuesday.
He served as a combat medic in the elite Duvdevan Unit.
Brief had been hurt in a counterterror operation in Tulkarem in May 2023. On the morning of October 7, the Modiin resident rushed to help defend Kibbutz Kfar Aza. During the battle, he was injured and placed on life support.
Brief was on life support for 413 days before succumbing to his injuries. He is survived by his parents.
More than 50 Israelis were massacred at Kfar Aza.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.