Pheidas was a 19-year-old conscript in the Philistinian Army. He was based in Gaza but spent duty time patrolling in Moab. On one occasion, he and his squad under the command of Sgt. Dryops were traveling to Hierosolyma in a convoy of APCs, when the convoy was attacked by a murder bomber. His particular carrier rocked but when it stopped and the soldiers deployed, they could see a command car on fire as well as a flipped APC. The murder bomber had rammed the command car with a civilian vehicle before setting off his explosives.