The IDF released the name of Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia, 20, from Hod HaSharon, an armor soldier in the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade), killed in the tank incident that struck a battalion command post in the village of Tebnit, southern Lebanon. The IDF has now named four soldiers killed in the incident, including Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon and Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein. Israel Hayom reports the IDF cleared the name for publication late Saturday.
The IDF cleared the name of Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia, 20, an armor soldier in the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade), as the fourth soldier killed in the tank strike on a battalion command post in the village of Tebnit, southern Lebanon, late Thursday. The clearance was published at 23:57 Jerusalem on Saturday — the same night the military named two other soldiers, Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein and a Maglan commando, killed in separate incidents in the same sector earlier Saturday.
The tank-strike incident was first described by the IDF on Friday. By Saturday night (23:57 Jerusalem), four successive bulletins naming Kababia appeared within minutes, reflecting friction over name clearance across editions. As The Zioneer reported Saturday at 21:39 Jerusalem, Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, also of the 52nd Battalion, was among the fallen. An earlier bulletin at 21:08 Jerusalem noted the name of one of the three soldiers killed alongside the battalion commander was published, separate from the Klein and Ben Ari identifications. One further name among the four tank-strike casualties remains withheld pending family notification.
The 52nd Battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, was killed in the same incident. Ground operations in southern Lebanon, now in their third week, have produced several deadly events including a Hezbollah IED ambush on June 17 that killed reservist Staff Sgt. Alexander Filin and wounded seven others, as reported by The Zioneer yesterday (09:33 Jerusalem).
It remains open whether the tank strike was the result of a direct Hezbollah hit or another cause; the IDF has not detailed the exact mechanism of the strike.
4 developments
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- DevelopingRabbi eulogizes fallen soldier Ahad Yaari as 'truly special young man'
- StrongDefense Minister Katz eulogizes fallen 52nd Battalion commander and three soldiers in Lebanon
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