The IDF cleared for publication that Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari was killed in southern Lebanon overnight Saturday, and that Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein fell in the Friday tank incident. Ben Ari, from the Maglan commando unit, was killed in a Hezbollah attack near the Ali Taher ridge; 13 soldiers were wounded. Klein was an armor soldier in the 52nd Battalion, 401st Armored Brigade.
At 20:46 Jerusalem tonight, the IDF cleared for publication the names of two soldiers killed this weekend in southern Lebanon — Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, a Maglan commando fighter killed overnight Saturday in a Hezbollah rocket and explosive drone attack near the Ali Taher ridge, and Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, an armor soldier from the 52nd Battalion, 401st Armored Brigade, who fell on Friday in a separate tank-related incident. The formal name clearance follows a day in which the military had already detailed both events, reporting that Ben Ari was killed around 01:30 Saturday and that 13 troops were wounded — two seriously, one moderately, and 10 lightly.
As The Zioneer reported through the day, the thread opened at 20:46 Jerusalem with the IDF's initial confirmation of two separate overnight incidents: a tank event around 00:20 Friday that killed four soldiers including Battalion 52 commander Lt. Col. Dor Gadelia Ben Shimon, and a drone-and-rocket strike around 01:30 Saturday that killed Ben Ari and wounded 13. By the same 20:46 hour, the IDF had released Klein's name (version 2) and Ben Ari's name (version 3), and by version 5 had published a detailed breakdown of both incidents. Additional background reporting from the desk noted that Klein, 21, a Herzliya resident and former basketball player, was mourned by his school and city; Ben Ari, 21, was a Maglan fighter operating near Kfar Tebnit when the attack struck.
This weekend's fatalities come after months of escalated combat in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has continued to target Israeli ground forces operating near the border. The Zioneer previously reported on earlier combat fatalities in the same theater, including separate incidents involving explosive drones and accidental discharges. The IDF has not yet released the names of the two other soldiers who died in the Friday tank incident alongside Klein and Lt. Col. Ben Shimon; their identities remain withheld pending family notification. The investigation into the tank event's precise circumstances is ongoing.
6 developments
- StrongIDF names two soldiers killed in separate southern Lebanon operations Saturday
- DevelopingLebanese Army says one soldier killed in IDF strike in southern Lebanon
- StrongFour IDF soldiers killed in complex combat in southern Lebanon overnight
- StrongIDF says one soldier killed, seven wounded by Hezbollah IED in southern Lebanon; Filin named, injuries detailed
Source and signal
- Internal intake