'Fauda' crew member 'killed in action' in Gaza

Netflix drama Fauda fame television producer, Master Sgt. (res.) Matan Meir, 38, has been killed in a blast from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft next to a mosque in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas.

Meir, from Odem in the Golan Heights, was best known for his work on the award-winning Israeli television show Fauda, the third season of which was set inside the Gaza Strip. He was killed on Friday.

Israel has increased ground offensive along with air strikes in retaliation of the Hamas' initial unprecedented attack on the country's southern areas on October 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected growing international calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all the nearly 240 hostages captured by Hamas.

"We are absolutely devastated to share that one of our very own Fauda family members, Matan Meir, was killed in action in Gaza,” a post on social media platform X (formerly twitter) by Fauda Official said late on Saturday.

"Matan was an integral part of the crew for all 4 seasons of Fauda. The entire cast and crew are completely heartbroken by this tragic loss. We would like to extend our condolences to Matan's family and friends. May his soul rest in peace,” it further said.

Speaking to Israeli web portal, Ynet, Fauda star Lior Raz praised Meir as a “man with a heart of gold.”

“I loved you, Matan. You were always here for me at every moment… you just wanted to help and be here for others,” Raz said.

Meir was serving in the 551st Brigade's 697th Battalion. Four soldiers of the battalion, including Meir, were killed in the incident on November 10.

Fauda has been criticised by a section of viewers for "whitewashing" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At least 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, in the initial Hamas attack on October 7. Forty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began.

More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. It does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.