A deeply personal detail has emerged from the deadly tank incident in southern Lebanon that killed four Israeli soldiers overnight between Thursday and Friday. According to Ynet, Staff Sgt. Naveh Havshush, 20, from Geva Binyamin-Adam, sent his father a WhatsApp message at 11:10 p.m., about an hour before the disaster, saying there was a good chance he would be home by Sunday and asking him not to tell his mother so she would not be disappointed if plans changed at the last minute.
His father, Haim Havshush, who serves as deputy commander of the reservist Yiftach Brigade, replied only with a small “like” reaction, not knowing it would be their final exchange. Less than an hour later, at midnight, the fatal explosion struck the tank commanded by the battalion commander in 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade. Because of the danger in the area and the technical difficulty reaching the damaged tank, formal identification took many hours, and the family received the death notice only at daybreak from IDF officers.
The father described his son as “an angel” who never argued with anyone and always preferred to give in and help others. Havshush had studied at the Beit Yatir pre-military academy and had insisted on first gaining experience as a field soldier before moving on to officers’ training. He saw his service in the armored corps as a sacred mission.
After the military allowed his name to be published on Friday, Haim Havshush wrote that IDF officers came in the middle of the night with “the saddest news of all,” and asked people to keep going on hikes and try to maintain routine as much as possible. “That is why Naveh fell,” he wrote, “so that we may continue living in this country, safely, happily and calmly.” Havshush was buried Sunday at 6 p.m. on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The same incident also killed Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia of Hod HaSharon, Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein of Herzliya, and Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Shimon, commander of Battalion 52 from Beit Shean. The IDF says its investigation into what caused the severe tank hit is still ongoing.
