Six Israeli Soldiers Killed in Lebanon Firefight, Bringing IDF Death Toll to 793

Thursday, 14 November 2024 | Six members of the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] were killed on Wednesday morning in a firefight with Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, while a seventh was moderately wounded, the military announced on Wednesday night.

Five of the slain soldiers were identified as IDF Capt. Itay Marcovich, 21, from Kokhav Ya’ir; Staff Sgt. Sraya Elboim, 21, from Mehola; Staff Sgt. Dror Hen, 20, from Gan Haim; Staff. Sgt. Nir Gofer, 20, from Dimona; and Sgt. Shalev Itzhak Sagron, 21, from Sderot.

All of them served in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, the army said.

The name of the last soldier killed was not yet approved for publication, local media reported, adding that his family had been informed.

According to Israel’s Ynetnews outlet, the Golani soldiers were ambushed at short range by Hezbollah terrorists after entering a structure where the army had not yet operated. An hours-long firefight ensued, which ended with at least one terrorist dead and the area falling under IDF control.

The military was said to have launched an investigation into suspicions that the terrorists emerged from an underground terror tunnel and were not harmed in the airstrikes that preceded the ground maneuver.

On Tuesday morning, the IDF released the names of four troops killed in action fighting Hamas terrorists in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The IDF soldiers, members of the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion 92, were identified as Staff Sgt. Orr Katz, 20, from Ma’ale Adumim; Staff Sgt. Nave Yair Asulin, 21, from Carmit; Staff Sgt. Gary Lalhruaikima Zolat, 21, from Afula; and Staff Sgt. Ofir Eliyahu, 20, from Holon.

The death toll among Israeli troops since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, cross-border terrorist massacre now stands at 793, according to IDF figures.

Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Israel 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 there in May.