The funeral of Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade) who was killed in southern Lebanon this week, began at 14:00 at the cemetery in Beit HaShita, according to reports circulating via IDF-affiliated channels.
The funeral of Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon began at the Beit HaShita cemetery at 14:00 today, a short while after military sources had announced the time. Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade), was killed early Friday alongside three other soldiers when an explosion struck his command tank near Tebnit in southern Lebanon shortly after midnight, as reported by The Zioneer throughout the morning (09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 09:03, 10:34, 10:40 Jerusalem). The family and the Gilboa Regional Council, where Ben Simhon lived, confirmed the funeral arrangements earlier in the day.
The incident was first reported by Hebrew media shortly after 09:00 Jerusalem, with the IDF name-release arriving at 09:03 along with multiple local reports. Within minutes, Army Radio (N13) cited family and military sources setting the funeral for 14:00. By 09:14, The Zioneer published the first full article detailing that Ben Simhon was the fourth 52nd Battalion commander killed or wounded since October 7, 2023. A preliminary IDF investigation, reported at 09:03, found that a suspicious munition — possibly an explosive drone — struck the tank around 00:20; the military launched reprisal strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Nabatieh area afterwards. The investigation still cannot conclusively determine the type of munition, whether anti-tank missile or explosive drone.
Ben Simhon, a resident of Beit HaShita in the Gilboa region, assumed command of the battalion in April 2026, after his predecessor was seriously wounded in southern Lebanon two months prior, as The Zioneer reported (09:14, 09:32, 10:07 Jerusalem). The Gilboa Regional Council, which issued a tribute at 09:03, noted that he took command 'amid complex fighting.' Ben Simhon leaves behind a wife and two daughters. The other three soldiers killed in the same tank strike have not been named in the current reports.
The number of soldiers killed in the incident — four in total — has been consistent across all thread versions. The precise cause of the tank explosion remains under military investigation, and no Hezbollah claim of responsibility has been reported.
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