An Israel Defense Forces officer was killed in action in Southern Lebanon on Thursday when a Hezbollah terrorist fired an anti-tank guided missile at an Israeli tank operating north of the Litani River.
The slain soldier was identified as Capt. Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, 21, from Moshav Mishmar HaShiv’a, an Armored Corps officer in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, the IDF said.
According to the military, the missile struck the tank at approximately 4 p.m. Following the attack, Israeli forces carried out air and artillery strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in the area. Immediately after the attack, the Israeli Air Force and artillery struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
Israeli strikes overnight in the city of Tyre killed seven people, a source from Lebanon’s civil defense told AFP on Friday. One strike near the Jabal Amel Hospital killed four, wounded seven and lightly damaged the facility, while another killed three and wounded five, the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to the slain officer.
“Our hearts ache over the fall of Armored Corps officer Capt. Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, of blessed memory, who fell in battle in Southern Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “Together with all citizens of Israel, my wife and I send our deepest condolences to his family and share in their profound grief. Eitan, of blessed memory, from Mishmar HaShiv’a, was a brave commander who led his soldiers on the front lines of battle to protect the security of Israel.
“We will always remember his heroism and his sacrifice.”
Lemberg’s younger brother, Shahar, described him as someone who always sought to give his all, both as a soldier and as a person.
“Eitan was the kind of person who always went above and beyond and insisted on giving 100 percent, even when it wasn’t necessary,” Shahar told Kan Reshet Bet on Friday. “It was important to him to contribute. They even wrote in his high school yearbook that he would one day become the IDF chief of staff because he cared so much. He loved the country and he loved people.”
According to his brother, Lemberg completed his tank commanders’ course on Oct. 7, 2023, and had been in combat ever since. “As long as I’m making a meaningful contribution, I’ll be there,” he would say. “If I’m needed here, I’ll be here; if I’m needed in Lebanon, I’ll be in Lebanon; and if I’m needed in the south, I’ll be in the south.”
Shahar described Eitan as “an amazing brother and an amazing partner,” recalling a close-knit family whose members regularly gathered for Friday-night dinners and weekend meals.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the War of Redemption—which was triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7 cross-border massacre—now stands at 952, according to official IDF data.
Lemberg’s death came a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire framework contingent on Hezbollah halting attacks, withdrawing from Southern Lebanon and disarming, with the Lebanese Armed Forces deploying to designated areas in the south. Hezbollah subsequently rejected the proposal and continued its attacks against Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said the agreement had been based on “a clear principle: Hezbollah must stop firing, withdraw from Southern Lebanon, and be disarmed.”
According to Leiter, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem publicly condemned the agreement on Thursday morning, while Hezbollah drones were launched at Israeli targets.
“Israel will defend its citizens. Lebanon deserves a future shaped by its government—not by an Iranian-backed terrorist organization,” Leiter wrote on X.
He added that there had been “real hope at the negotiating table for a new chapter of security and peace,” but warned that “Hezbollah and Iran are trying to destroy that hope. They must not succeed.”
