IDF Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon Killed in Hezbollah Attack in Southern Lebanon
Four IDF soldiers, including tank battalion commander Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, were killed overnight in a Hezbollah strike in Kfar Tebnit.
Four Israeli soldiers, including a senior tank battalion commander, were killed overnight in a Hezbollah attack in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebnit, the IDF announced Friday, in one of the deadliest single incidents for Israeli forces in recent weeks.
The military named the slain commander as Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade, from Beit HaShita. The names of the three other soldiers killed in the attack are expected to be released later.
Shortly after midnight, a suspected drone or anti-tank missile struck Ben Simhon's tank in Kfar Tebnit. All four crew members were killed in the explosion, which the IDF says is still under investigation to determine the exact cause.
Ben Simhon had taken command of the battalion after his predecessor was severely wounded in southern Lebanon in April.
The attack did not end there. Several hours after the fatal tank strike, a Hezbollah explosive drone struck forces of the Commando Brigade also operating in Kfar Tebnit, wounding five additional soldiers — one seriously, three moderately, and one lightly. The wounded were evacuated to hospital and their families notified.
The strikes came despite the U.S.-Iran interim Memorandum of Understanding signed this week, which reportedly includes provisions for an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The overnight attacks in Kfar Tebnit represent the most direct challenge yet to that framework — and one of the central reasons cited by Tehran for postponing its delegation's departure to Switzerland for follow-on technical talks.
Kfar Tebnit has become one of the most active flashpoints of the ongoing IDF campaign in southern Lebanon. The village near Nabatieh has seen repeated Israeli strikes and Hezbollah drone attacks in recent weeks, with the IDF conducting artillery shelling on Hezbollah infrastructure in the area following each incident.
The IDF said it struck Hezbollah targets overnight in southern Lebanon in response to the attacks. No further details were immediately provided.