Israel Defense Forces Maj. (res.) Dor Zimel, a deputy company commander in Battalion 8103 of the 6th Etzioni Brigade, succumbed to wounds he sustained in a Hezbollah aerial attack on Wednesday.
Zimel, 27, from Even Yehuda, just outside Netanya, was reportedly set to marry his fiancée next month. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of major.
Nineteen people, including 14 soldiers, were wounded in the missile and drone attack on the northern Bedouin town of Arab al-Aramshe.
The Hezbollah assault involved a two-pronged attack. First, two anti-tank-guided missiles were fired at the town’s community center. When rescue workers arrived, Hezbollah launched a suicide drone towards the building.
In a statement cited by Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily close to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization took responsibility for the attack, confirming it launched a combined strike with guided missiles and drones on what it said was a military position in Arab al-Aramshe.
Tehran’s terrorist proxy in Lebanon has carried out near-daily attacks on northern Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 invasion of the northwestern Negev.