On Saturday, October 7, 2023, soldiers from the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade were dispatched to Kibbutz Nir Am. On the way, the IDF personnel carrier (Namer) carrying the late Matan Abargil and two other battalion members came under attack. The soldiers returned fire, but the terrorists then hurled grenades at the IDF vehicle, after which one of the assailants even got inside. Matan Abargil tried to seize the grenade and throw it out of the vehicle to protect his comrades, but did not succeed, and instead threw himself over the grenade, using his own body to shield his comrades from the explosion. He sustained severe injuries and his final words to his companions were: “I tried to protect all of us and all the people of Israel.” Shortly thereafter, he succumbed to his wounds. Despite the presence of numerous terrorists around the vehicle, they did not enter it, apparently assuming that all the soldiers inside had been killed. A short time later, an IDF unit arrived and successfully extracted the occupants of the vehicle. The heroism displayed by the late Matan Abergil saved the lives of the six remaining soldiers in the Namer APC.
