Sgt.-Maj. Aiman Ghadir

May 12, 2004 - Sgt.-Maj. Aiman Ghadir, 24, of Bir Makhsur was one of five IDF soldiers killed when their armored personnel carrier exploded, apparently hit by an anti-tank rocket.

The APC, part of a military convoy traveling on the border road between Egypt and Rafah on the Philadelphi Route, was transporting dozens of kilograms of explosives to be used to detonate weapon-smuggling tunnels along the Israeli-Egyptian border near Rafah. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, in which five were killed and three wounded.

Aiman, the eldest of five children, grew up in the Bedouin village of Bir Makhsur in the Lower Galilee. An IDF Bedouin tracker, he served during both his compulsory and career service as a patrol commander in the Gaza Strip. His father Hassan, who himself served for many years as an IDF tracker, said, “I was afraid, but I gave him a free hand. My son did what he had to do without fear.” Aiman had recently built a home for himself in the village, and hoped to marry.

Sgt.-Maj. Aiman Ghadir will be buried in his home village, Bir Makhsur. He is survived by his parents, Hassan and Fadila, three sisters and a brother.