Israel's military confirmed that Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade), was killed Friday by a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile strike, alongside three crew members. Their Merkava IV (Barak) tank was destroyed and set ablaze; the IDF said the tank remains near the hill and the crew's bodies have not been retrieved.
The IDF admitted Sunday morning that Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd Battalion (401st 'Iron Tracks' Armored Brigade), was killed on Friday by a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) strike while attempting to capture the Ali al-Taher underground facility (UGF) in southern Lebanon. The strike also killed three other crew members — identified in previous reports as Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein and Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia, along with a third unnamed soldier — in a Merkava IV (Barak) tank that was completely destroyed and set ablaze.
According to the IDF admission, the tank remains near the hill and has not yet been retrieved, including the charred bodies of the slain crew members. The disclosure follows earlier Zioneer coverage: on Friday the IDF confirmed the four deaths, and Hezbollah published detailed claims of responsibility and footage. In a Sunday 00:32 Jerusalem bulletin, the IDF said the slain tank crew was engaged in seizing Hezbollah's main underground command center on the Ali Taher ridge. The military had previously stated that a preliminary probe indicated the tank was struck by an explosive drone with a warhead.
The current update — that the tank and bodies remain unrecovered — is a new detail not previously confirmed by the IDF. It underscores the tactical difficulty of the area, which remains contested. The IDF has not specified when recovery operations may be possible.
3 developments
- StrongHezbollah releases detailed claim of responsibility for tank strike that killed 52nd Battalion commander
- StrongHezbollah footage claims to show anti-tank missile strike on IDF tank that killed four soldiers
- ConfirmedIDF says slain tank crew was seizing Hezbollah's main underground HQ on Ali Taher ridge
- StrongIDF details 52nd Battalion's Beaufort mission in final tribute to commander Ben Simhon
Source and signal
- Internal intake