The IDF announced Friday that Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion in the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed overnight in combat in southern Lebanon along with three members of his tank crew. Ben Simhon, from Beit Hashita, assumed command of the battalion on April 20 after his predecessor was seriously wounded.
The IDF announced Friday morning (June 19) at 09:03 Jerusalem that Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed overnight in combat in southern Lebanon alongside three members of his tank crew. This update confirms that three additional soldiers died together with the battalion commander — the IDF cleared for publication the full crew's death, though the names of the three crew members remain under a publication ban pending family notifications, as of 09:46 Jerusalem.
The thread began when the IDF first cleared for publication at Fri 09:03 Jerusalem the death of a battalion commander and three other soldiers in a drone strike in southern Lebanon, initially reporting a total of four fatalities. Within the same minute, versions clarified the circumstances — a suspicious target hit the tank near the village of Tebenin — and named the commander as Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, from Beit Hashita. An earlier version had reported the total count as five, but subsequent versions corrected this to four: the commander and three crew members. The IDF's official clearance at 09:03 confirmed Ben Simhon had taken command in April 2026, about a week after his predecessor was seriously wounded.
As The Zioneer reported at Fri 09:32 Jerusalem, Ben Simhon led the 52nd Battalion during operations against Hezbollah. Background context from 09:45 Jerusalem noted that his four brothers enlisted in the 401st Brigade after his fall and that his wife serves as a combat officer in the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. Hezbollah breached the ceasefire with the drone strike, according to earlier thread reporting.
The names of the three tank crew members who died alongside Ben Simhon have not yet been released, pending notification of their families. The IDF has stated the incident is under investigation.
20 developments
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- ConfirmedIDF soldier killed by Hezbollah IED in southern Lebanon, deputy division commander wounded
- Developing18 killed, IDF strikes 150 targets in South Lebanon as ceasefire violations mount
Source and signal
- Internal intake