Five Israeli soldiers were killed and another 13 injured in a battle with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday.
According to the IDF, reservists from the 8207th 228th Alon Battalion engaged Hezbollah terrorists in an unspecified southern Lebanese village. During an exchange of fire, three of the terrorists were killed. The army is investigating the details of the incident.
The fallen soldiers were identified as 29-year-old platoon commander Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut; 36-year-old deputy platoon commander Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol; the battalion’s rabbi, 43-year-old Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham (Avi) Yosef Goldberg; 30-year-old Master Sgt. (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, 30; and 47-year-old Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal from Karnei Shomron.
Of the 13 injured, four were listed in serious condition.
22 Israeli children were left orphaned from the battle.
In the past week, 23 soldiers have been killed. 16 in southern Lebanon, 1 on the Lebanon border, 5 in Gaza, and 1 on the Gaza border.
We lost four IDF heroes last night in Southern Lebanon
Capt. (Res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, 43 years old. ZL HYD
Sgt. Major (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, 30 years old. ZL HYD
Captain (Res.) Amit Chayut, 29 years old. ZL HYD
Major (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol, 36 years old. ZL… pic.twitter.com/QVAC8dQlY8
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) October 27, 2024
“For death has penetrated our windows, it has entered our palaces “
My cousin the hero.
A husband, a father of ten and a lover of Jews, Judaism and the Holy Land.
Shaul Moyal, who is named, like me, for our great-grandfather Rav Chaim Shaul Bruk, lived in Karnei Shomron and… pic.twitter.com/YgabVGRSbZ
— Chaim Bruk (@MontanaJew) October 27, 2024
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army disclosed that soldiers uncovered Hezbollah weapons buried near the border fence while airstrikes on the terror group’s stronghold in Beirut’s Dahiya district targeted weapons warehouses and factories.
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. According to figures released by the government on Sept. 29, more than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terror group is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
