The IDF on Monday announced that four IDF reserve soldiers were killed in a tunnel collapse in southern Lebanon on Sunday afternoon.
The fallen soldiers, who all served in the 9263rd Battalion’s 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, were named as Master Sgt. (res.) Binyamin Destaw Negose, H’yd, 28, from Beit Shemesh; Cpt. (res.) Sagi Ya’akov Rubinshtein, H’yd, 31, from Kibbutz Lavi; Sgt. First Class. (res.) Erez Ben Efraim, H’yd, 25, from Ramat Gan; and Maj. (res.) Evgeny Zinershain, H’yd, 43, from Zichron Yaakov.
An initial investigation revealed that on Sunday afternoon, the reservists had entered an underground tunnel that contained a large cache of Hezbollah weapons in a dense area of Labbouneh where the IDF has been operating for several months. Their entry into the tunnel triggered an IDF explosive device set by IDF forces several months ago. As a result of the explosion, Hezbollah weapons inside the tunnel also detonated, causing a fire and the collapse of the tunnel onto the soldiers.
Some of the soldiers were trapped under the rubble. Rescue operations lasted about 12 hours and included forces from the Home Front Command’s rescue unit and Fire and Rescue Services.
The IDF has begun a thorough investigation of the incident. The main focus of the investigation is the apparent failure in coordination between the forces, leading to the soldiers entering a tunnel that had been booby-trapped by the IDF.
As of now, the IDF has defined the tragic incident as an operational accident.
It is the first time [and hopefully the last] since the announcement of the ceasefire that IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon and the surrounding area have been killed.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
I pray Hashem has it in mind that Israel has suffered enough, and He is thinking of bringing our redemption very soon. 😭😭😭 im not sure how much more heartache and suffering we can
endure. May Hashem give all their family and friends an abundance of comfort among all the mourners if Zion and Jerusalem, until Mochiach and the resuscitation if the dead.