The IDF released further details Thursday morning on the fatal incident Wednesday evening: Staff Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin, 29, from Haifa, a fighter with the 36th Division headquarters, was killed when a Hezbollah explosive device detonated during a foot patrol near the Litani River. The deputy commander of the 36th Division (a colonel) and a reserve battalion commander were moderately wounded; five other reserve troops — three men and a woman — sustained light injuries. Seven personnel were wounded in total, according to Israeli media.
The IDF on Thursday morning released Staff Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin's name, 29, from Haifa, as the soldier killed in Wednesday afternoon's explosive-device attack in southern Lebanon — the first naming of the fatality since the IDF cleared publication of his death at 05:58 Jerusalem.
The incident occurred Wednesday at 17:00 Jerusalem when a foot patrol from the 36th Division headquarters — including the deputy division commander's forward command post and Givati troops — was operating near the village of Tayba in the Litani area. A Hezbollah-planted IED detonated. By 05:58 Thursday, the IDF had published a series of updates: first clearing Filin's death, then progressively detailing the casualty toll — starting with six wounded, then seven, then eight, before settling on seven wounded (including the deputy 36th Division commander, a colonel, and a reserve battalion commander in moderate condition; three reserve men and one female reservist lightly wounded). Artillery struck terrorist infrastructure in the area after the incident.
As The Zioneer reported, this was the second explosive-device attack on Israeli forces in the area within hours — following an earlier incident on Wednesday that wounded a deputy division commander and other troops. Defense Minister Israel Katz sent condolences to Filin's family on Thursday morning, noting that Filin repeatedly volunteered for reserve duty out of a deep sense of mission.
Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
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