Sgt.-Maj. Moshe Almaliach

Oct 21, 2004 - Sgt.-Maj. Moshe Almaliach, 35, of Dimona, a career NCO in the engineering corps, was killed by a bomb explosion While conducting construction work on the Philadelphi road in the Gaza Strip. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Almaliach's unit was working yesterday on upgrading the Philadelphi Road, which runs along the Gazan-Egyptian border. About 40 meters south of the Hardun outpost, Almaliach sighted a spot where the earth had collapsed, and saw what appeared to be the shaft of a tunnel. He summoned the Gaza Division's tunnel crew and they began surveying the site, with Almaliach guiding them. At about 3 P.M., a bomb went off right where Almaliach was standing. The other soldiers, who were standing some distance away, were unhurt, but he was mortally wounded and died soon afterward.

Moshe Almaliach enlisted in the IDF Engineering Corps in 1994, and later returned to the army after several years in the Israel Prison Service. He was responsible for the construction of IDF posts in southern Gaza, as well as the protective wall along the Philadelphi Road to protect the soldiers on patrol. Several months ago, on Independence Day, he received a commendation for his work in Gaza at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. "The army was his whole life," said a relative.

The Almaliach family was known in Dimona for its good deeds. When he had a day off, Moshe would join his father in distributing food to the needy. Last month he raised money from the soldiers in his unit to fight cancer.

Sgt.-Maj. Moshe Almaliach was buried in the military section of the Dimona cemetery. He is survived by his wife Oshrit, his son, 8, and two daughters, 5 and 6, as well as his parents, Yehuda and Rikva, and four sisters.