The IDF said Saturday evening it was allowed to name two more fallen soldiers from fighting in Lebanon. Staff Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, 21, from Karmiel HaRarl and a combatant in the Mגלן commando unit under the Commando Brigade, was killed overnight in southern Lebanon by Hezbollah fire. Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, from Herzliya, a tank soldier in Armored Battalion 52, was killed in the tank disaster involving the battalion commander.
Ben Ari, who served as a company sergeant major in Mגלן, had been due to begin his release leave at the end of the month. Rockets and drones were launched overnight toward the village of Tabenin, where the force was operating around 1:30 a.m. He was killed and 13 other fighters were wounded, including one seriously. Ben Ari would have turned 22 in nine days. He grew up in Kerem Maharal, studied at Omer School and Kfar Galim High School, and before his military service spent a year at the Jerusalem pre-military academy.
Family and local officials described him as lively, gifted, and close to his family and friends. Relatives said he loved life and had plans including an upcoming motorcycle test and a flight to Thailand in mid-August. His father, Yaron, learned the news after a knock at the door at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. Hof HaCarmel Regional Council head Asif Isaak called him “a child of the land in the fullest sense,” saying his future was cut short. Kfar Galim principal Alfa Winberger said the school had suffered a second devastating loss after the death last month of Sgt. Noam Hamburger, also an alumnus.
The second casualty, Yoav Klein, was killed in the tank disaster the previous night, between Thursday and Friday, alongside battalion commander Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon and two other soldiers whose names have not yet been released. The tank crew was taking part in an operation to seize a fortified Hezbollah compound in the Ali Taher ridge area, which the army said is now under operational control. A senior military source said dozens of militants are trapped there. The deadly incident occurred near Tabenin, by the city of Nabatieh, when a suspicious object struck a tank from Battalion 52 operating under the Givati Brigade combat team. The IDF has not yet determined what hit the tank, but ruled out an accident or malfunction and assessed it was external fire, possibly a suicide drone or an anti-tank missile.
