On Wednesday afternoon, soldiers from Sayeret Golani (an elite IDF combat unit) were operating in southern Lebanon. They breached a multi-story building in which they located several shafts. After about half an hour of operating in the building, they encountered four terrorists, and a close-range firefight ensued, resulting in the elimination of all four.
The terrorists were hiding on one of the floors and they opened fire on IDF fighters who were on the staircase at the time. The operation was carried out based on intelligence and supporting fire was used.
Today, it was cleared for publication that five fighters from Sayeret Golani were killed in that incident:
- Major Ofek Bachar, 24, from Nes Ziona, a company commander in the reconnaissance unit;
- Captain Elad Siman Tov, 23, from Tzofim, a team commander in the reconnaissance unit;
- Staff Sergeant Elishav Eitan Wieder, 22, from Jerusalem, a squad commander in the reconnaissance unit;
- Staff Sergeant Yaakov Hillel, 21, from Jerusalem; and
- Staff Sergeant Yehuda Dror Yahalom, 21, from Hebron.
In the same incident, an officer and two soldiers from the same unit were seriously wounded. They were evacuated by helicopter and landed at Rambam Hospital an hour after the incident. The evacuation was carried out under fire with IDF forces providing cover and supporting fire.
This brings the total number of casualties since the beginning of the war to 745.
Soldiers from Sayeret Golani have been operating in southern Lebanon for the past week. During this time, they eliminated ten terrorists and located weapon caches.
This tragedy comes close on the heels of another tragedy which occurred on Sunday: Four IDF soldiers were killed by a UAV strike at the Golani base. In the disaster, 58 soldiers were injured, seven of them seriously, nine moderately and the rest lightly. The UAV penetrated the ceiling of the base's dining room during dinner and no alarm was triggered.
Kann News contributed to this article.
