Israel's military cleared for publication Sunday night the names of five soldiers killed in two separate southern Lebanon incidents overnight. Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia and Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein died alongside Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, the 52nd Battalion commander, and one additional soldier in a tank incident. Separately, a Maglan soldier, Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, was killed and 13 others wounded when Hezbollah struck a commando force near the Ali Taher ridge.
The IDF on Sunday night cleared for publication the names of five soldiers who fell in two separate combat incidents in southern Lebanon. The heaviest single toll came in the tank incident that killed four soldiers of the 52nd Battalion (401st Armored Brigade): the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon; Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia; Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein; and one additional soldier whose name remains unreleased. The IDF has not specified the cause of the tank incident, which occurred during operations near Nabatieh. President Isaac Herzog on Friday morning mourned Ben Simhon, who took command after his predecessor was severely wounded.
In the second incident, Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, a fighter in the elite Maglan commando unit, was killed overnight Saturday when Hezbollah launched a combined attack of rockets, mortar shells, and explosive drones against Israeli forces near Kfar Tebnit and the Ali Taher ridge. Thirteen soldiers were wounded — two seriously, one moderately, and 10 lightly. Hezbollah later released a detailed operational account claiming responsibility for the tank strike, asserting that its anti-tank guided missiles hit three Merkava tanks before artillery forced an IDF withdrawal; the IDF has not responded to that claim. The Zioneer reported on the Maglan fatality and the wounded count at 21:02 Jerusalem on Saturday.
2 developments
- StrongIDF names two soldiers killed in separate southern Lebanon operations Saturday
- ConfirmedIDF names Maglan soldier killed, 13 wounded in Hezbollah strike on Ali Taher ridge
- 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
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
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