Indian group mourns soldier killed in Israel attack

AN INDIAN Israeli soldier from the Bnei Menashe community was killed in an attack close to the West Bank’s Beit El settlement, community members said last Thursday (12).  

Staff Sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, was a resident of Nof HaGalil, a city north of Nazareth, and a soldier in the Kfir Brigade's Nahshon Battalion, the Israeli Army said. 

 Community members described “shock at the news of the loss of a young life” last Wednesday (11) near Asaf Junction. 

 His funeral was held last Thursday and he was buried in a ceremony on Mount Herzl. 

 Hanghal immigrated to Israel from India’s northeast in 2020.  

Some 300 Bnei Menashe youngsters are said to be in the Israeli army during the current war, most of them serving in combat units. 

 Bnei Menashe, hailing from India's north-eastern states of Manipur and Mizoram, are believed to have descended from the Israelite tribe of Menasseh, one of the “lost tribes” of ancient times. 

 Shlomo Amar, Sephardic Chief Rabbi, declared them as descendants of Menasseh in 2005, paving the path for their immigration to Israel.  

Some 5,000 members of the community are said to have moved to Israel, including almost 1,500 in the past five years.  

Another 5,500 still live in India and are waiting to immigrate. 

 Nof HaGalil Mayor, Ronen Plot, was quoted by Ynetnews as saying that “the city of Nof HaGalil mourns and grieves the loss of Staff Sgt. Hanghal. Gideon was a member of the Bnei Menashe community, which is very dear to my heart – good, humble and patriotic people”. 

 Footage from the scene of the attack showed a truck with a Palestinian licence plate veering off a highway and barrel at full speed into an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) guard post, adjacent to a bus stop, causing a massive crash before coming to a halt.  

The suspect was named by Israeli security sources as 58-year-old Hayil Dhaifallah, from the central West Bank town of Rafat.  

The attack follows a series of attempted suicide bombings and shooting incidents from the West Bank and which have been claimed by Islamic Hamas. 

 Hamas on October 7 last year launched a deadly attack on Israel, leading to the ongoing, intense war in Gaza. 

 Israel said it is stepping up its counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank, claiming that Iran-backed groups are smuggling weapons into the area from Jordan and trying to carry out attacks in Israeli territory.