The IDF said Thursday that Master Sgt. (res.) Basel Swaid, 32, from Peki'in, was killed overnight in an operational accident in Lebanon. According to the military, around 11 p.m. a vehicle, apparently a military truck, overturned in the village of Rab a-Tlatin. Swaid was killed, and another fighter was seriously injured. The army said the families have been notified and the incident is under investigation.
The announcement came a day after the IDF said Ra'ad Abu Al-Qiaan, 49, a Defense Ministry contractor from the Hura Regional Council in the Negev, was killed when a structure collapsed onto the engineering vehicle he was in during work in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. The incident happened during engineering activity, when part of a mosque, described as a minaret, collapsed onto the bulldozer he was operating, killing him at the scene.
Earlier this week, the military buried the soldiers killed in the tank disaster in southern Lebanon, along with two other IDF dead from the previous weekend in Lebanon. Those included Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, 32, commander of Battalion 52 of the 401st Brigade from Beit Hashita; Staff Sgt. Liav Kabbabia, 20, from Hod HaSharon; Staff Sgt. Naveh Chbashush, 20, from Geva Binyamin; and Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, from Herzliya.
Also buried that day were Master Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin, 29, from Haifa, who was killed by a bomb blast, and Sgt. Nir Ben Ari, 21, who was killed by a suicide drone strike. Since fighting resumed in the north about three months ago, during Operation "Roar of the Lion," 36 soldiers have been killed, including 22 after the ceasefire was declared. Since the war began, 962 IDF personnel have been killed, among them 473 fighters in Gaza and 83 in southern Lebanon.
