Warrant officer Zeed Mazarib of Zarzir fell in battle in Gaza

Warrant officer Zeed Mazarib fell in battle in southern Gaza, the IDF announced Thursday afternoon.

Mazarib, 34 years old from the Bedouin town of Zarzir, served as a tracker in the Southern Area Brigade of the IDF's Border Protection Force. He is survived by his wife and two children.

On Thursday morning, Mazarib was killed in a battle against terrorists who attempted to infiltrate Israel from Gaza.

The Thursday morning infiltration attempt saw terrorists attempt to penetrate the border from an area near Rafah in Gaza, across from the area between Kerem Shalom and Holit in southern Israel.

Soldiers from the Bedouin surveillance battalion were called to the scene and clashed with the terrorists, who opened fire at them. The cross-border battle continued for several minutes, just north of Kerem Shalom.

Mazarib's funeral will be held at the Zarzir cemetery at 4:00p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Aataf Grafiat, head of the Beit Zarzir local council, mourned, "We lost a brave and daring soldier, who paid with his life to protect the country. He served as a career officer, loved the service, and carried out his task in the most professional and loyal manner. He is survived by a wife and two orphaned children. This is a sad and difficult day for all residents of Beit Zarzir."

Israel advocate Yoseph Haddad mourned, "Zeed, who for many long months has been fighting for our country, went out to fight and fell in the exchange of fire. Zeed was a symbol of Israeli partnership, and joins a long list of heroes from the Arab sector in this war, and a longer list of fallen IDF soldiers. Zeed, thank you for fighting for us, and for sacrificing your life for the entire nation of Israel."