Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed fighting Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday.
The slain men were named as Maj. Ofek Bachar, 24, from Ness Ziona; Capt. Elad Siman Tov, 23, from Tzofim; Staff Sgt. Elyashiv Eitan Wieder, 22, from Jerusalem; Staff Sgt. Yakov Hillel, 21, from Jerusalem; and Staff Sgt. Yehudah Dror Yahalom, 21, from Hebron.
All five served in the Golani Brigade’s elite Reconnaissance Battalion.
Eight soldiers were wounded in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday, while another sustained wounds in Gaza, the military added.
On a day that should be so happy 5 Golani soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱 (@EliAfriatISR) October 17, 2024
🕯️Ofek Bacher, 24 years old
🕯️Elad Siman Tov, 23 years old
🕯️Elyashiv Eitan Vader, 22 years old,
🕯️Yaakov Hillel, 21 years old
🕯️Yehuda Dror Yaholum, 21 years old
May their memory be blessed.💔 pic.twitter.com/3DoBtbJ9yP
On Monday night, the IDF announced that Sgt. Koren Bitan, 19, was killed while fighting Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip.
One day earlier, Hezbollah terrorists killed four soldiers in a drone strike on the Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina. The IDF identified them as Sgt. Omri Tamari, 19, from Mazkeret Batya; Sgt. Yosef Hieb, 19, from Tuba-Zangariyye; Sgt. Yoav Agmon, 19, from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada; and Sgt. Alon Amitay, 19, from Ramot Naftali.
On Oct. 11, a soldier was killed in southern Gaza. Staff Sgt. Ittai Fogel, 22, served as a tank commander in the 46th Armored Battalion of the 401st “Iron Tracks” Brigade. He was from Yakir in Samaria.
On Oct. 10, three reservists were killed and two others seriously wounded when their vehicle hit an explosive in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.
The slain men were named as Master Sgt. (res.) Ori Moshe Borenstein, 32, from Moreshet; Master Sgt. (res.) Tzvi Matityahu Marantz, 32, from Bnei Adam; and Maj. (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, 37, from Jerusalem. All three were part of the 5460th support unit of the 460th Brigade.
The total death toll among Israeli soldiers since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre now stands at 745, according to official figures.
Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in the Strip in May.
