Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, 21, a Maglan commando fighter, was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the IDF confirmed Sunday. His death brings to five the number of soldiers who fell in a heavy tank incident involving the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade) over the weekend.
The IDF cleared for publication Sunday morning the name of a fifth soldier killed in the southern Lebanon tank incident that occurred over the weekend: Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, 21, a commando fighter in the Maglan unit. He fell alongside Lt. Col. Dor Gdalya Ben Shimon, commander of the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade), and three other soldiers — Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, Staff Sgt. Liav Kababiya, and Staff Sgt. Naveh Havshoosh — in a heavy tank-related engagement in southern Lebanon.
As The Zioneer reported Sunday morning, the IDF had initially named four fallen soldiers from the incident, before clearing Ben Ari's name for publication later in the day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog eulogized the fallen, with Herzog noting that Lt. Col. Ben Shimon had taken command of the 52nd Battalion after his predecessor was severely wounded. Funerals for Klein and Havshoosh were held Sunday; arrangements for the others are expected in the coming hours.
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