In escalating tensions in the West Bank, a 24-year-old Indian-origin Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal, was killed in the Beit El settlement, as reported on Wednesday. A member of the Bnei Menashe community, Hanghal was serving in the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, according to the Israeli Army.
Hanghal, who moved to Israel from India in 2020, was a resident of Nof HaGalil. The local Bnei Menashe community expressed their shock and grief over his death near Asaf Junction. His last rites are scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Nof HaGalil Mayor Ronen Plot mourned Hanghal’s death, noting, “The city of Nof HaGalil grieves the loss of Staff Sgt. Hanghal, a member of the beloved Bnei Menashe community—a good, humble, and patriotic person.
The Bnei Menashe believed to be descendants of the ancient Israelite tribe of Manasseh, have a strong presence in Israel’s military, with around 300 of their youth currently serving in combat units. Over the past five years, nearly 1,500 members of this community from India’s Manipur and Mizoram regions have moved to Israel.
The attack that claimed Hanghal’s life involved a truck with a Palestinian license plate crashing into an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) guard post near a bus stop. The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Hayil Dhaifallah from Rafat in the central West Bank, was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, with Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza claiming 34 lives, including six United Nations staff members and 19 women and children. The strikes targeted a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which had been sheltering approximately 12,000 displaced Palestinians. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) called it the highest staff death toll in a single incident during the conflict.
