Two soldiers were killed in the crash of the Air Force Yanshuf helicopter, during a mission to evacuate a soldier, who was wounded by gunfire in the Rafah area.
The son of one of the soldiers injured in the IDF helicopter crash in Rafah, a mechanic, said that his father heard the pilots saying that the crash was going to happen.
"He said that he heard the pilots say that it was going to happen, that it was difficult to land, so they made a turn to land again. Then it crashed. It all happened within seconds," the son told Kan Reshet Bet.
According to the son, "the helicopter fell on its left side and luckily he was on the right. He says he was next to an airborne mechanic. They held hands. He was caught under the helicopter, except for his head. He couldn’t move at all, until they were rescued."
A preliminary investigation shows that the crash was not caused by enemy fire and is still being investigated. The IDF stated that there was no change in the Air Force’s operational activities.
Seven other fighters were injured in the crash. They were all evacuated to hospital to receive medical treatment and their families were notified. Among the seriously wounded is an engineering combat soldier who was supposed to be rescued by the helicopter crew, after he was apparently shot by a Hamas sniper. Four additional Air Force helicopters participated in the evacuation of the wounded from the scene.
After the incident, Air Force commander, General Tomer Bar, appointed a military investigation committee to look into the circumstances of the crash. The members of the committee had already arrived at the scene between Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor early in the morning, to collect initial findings from the damaged helicopter.
This is the first helicopter crash in the Swords of Iron War, but not the first helicopter damaged since October 7th, when on the morning of the outbreak of the war, a Yasur helicopter that dropped soldiers near Kibbutz Alumim caught fire after being hit by Hamas fire. There were no casualties in that incident. Since the beginning of the war, the Air Force has rescued about 2,000 wounded soldiers from the Gaza Strip.