Last update - 00:00 06/11/2007
IDF soldier killed in jeep crash while patrolling Gaza border
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed Tuesday morning in a "Hummer" jeep accident along the border with the Gaza Strip.
The driver of the Hummer lost control of the vehicle for unknown reasons during a routine patrol along the border south of the Kissufim Crossing. The Hummer overturned, killing Staff Sergeant Yariv Amitai of Moshav Hazor'im, who was sitting on the back seat and apparently not wearing a helmet.
The remaining three soldiers in the vehicle suffered only light injuries.
Amitai's uncle, Lazer Amitai, said Yariv had only three months left to serve. He was planning to go into a new business opened by his father, who retired last year from the career army.
"We are not afraid and we want to give our best to the country," said Lazer Amitai, who lost his wife to a terror attack seven years ago in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip.
Yariv was born and raised on Moshav Hazor'im, an Orthodox community near Tiberias. He was a leader among the young people on the moshav, according to Hazor'im's secretary, Yossi Cohen.
Amitai is survived by his parents, two sisters and three brothers.
The IDF Southern Command will launch an investigation into the circumstances of the accident, and the Investigative Military Police have also opened a probe.
Related articles: