Death of the Son of Prominent Israeli Athlete in Gaza Battles: Who Is He?

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in battles in Gaza on Thursday, the army announced on Friday morning, among them the son of a prominent athlete. The deceased are Omar Samadja and Saadia Yaakov, both from the 9203 battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade. Omar Samadja (25 years old) is the son of Oren Samadja, who won a bronze medal in judo for Israel at the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona, and a silver medal at the World Championships in 1995 in Japan. Samadja is considered one of Israel's most prominent athletes, as he was the first man to win an Olympic medal, and the second after judoka Yael Arad, who won silver in the same Olympic Games just one day prior. Samadja is also the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal as both an athlete and a coach. The army stated that the two reservists were killed in a mortar attack carried out by Hamas in central Gaza on Thursday, adding that three other soldiers from the same brigade were seriously injured in the incident. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it targeted a military site near the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City. This raises the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground offensive on Gaza to 314.