The IDF Spokesperson officially acknowledged Wednesday evening that the 679th Brigade, not the female Oketz soldier, killed the Hezbollah operative in Bint Jbeil. The military apologized for the erroneous initial report, attributing it to a communication failure.
The IDF Spokesperson officially acknowledged Wednesday evening that the initial report on the Bint Jbeil incident was erroneous, attributing the elimination of the Hezbollah operative to the 679th Brigade and citing a "communication failure" as the cause of the error. The admission, made at 19:10 Jerusalem, resolves the discrepancy between the military's original account and the accounts from troops on the ground that emerged earlier in the day.
The story evolved rapidly Wednesday. At 07:30 Jerusalem, the IDF initially reported that a female Oketz unit soldier had killed the terrorist. By 12:55 Jerusalem, fighters on the ground publicly contradicted the official account, accusing the military of lying. At 19:05 Jerusalem, the IDF issued a correction, stating that the 679th Brigade, not the Oketz soldier, had fired the fatal shots and that the soldier's dog was killed in the clash. The official acknowledgment now confirms that correction and takes responsibility for the initial error, which the military said stemmed from an operational communication failure.
The clash took place in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, a site of ongoing operations. As The Zioneer reported, the building had been the scene of a previous encounter where a reservist was severely wounded. The 679th Brigade reported that the Hezbollah operative was part of a three-man cell that had been hiding in the ruins for weeks.
The IDF has not provided further details on the communication failure that led to the erroneous report, nor has it released the identity of the Hezbollah operative. The military stated that the findings of the investigation would be presented transparently, but the specific chain of events remains under review.
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