Family remembers tank crewman killed in southern Lebanon after previous hits on his tank

Hemdah Shemesh, the aunt of Sgt. Liav Kababia, 20, said on Sunday that he was “a heart,” recalling a young man who loved music and the sea, studied film, and radiated joy. Kababia was killed overnight Thursday to Friday in the tank disaster in southern Lebanon, along with Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, 32, Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, and Sgt. Noh Habsush, 20.

Shemesh described Kababia as a calm, easygoing person with a strong aesthetic sense, noting his distinctive red beard, his style, and his disciplined work in music and fashion. He completed five-unit mathematics and English and insisted on serving as a combat soldier. Before enlistment, he told her son, who served with him, “I will do only combat service, meaningful service,” and marked armor and paratroopers as his top choices.

According to Shemesh, Kababia had been in intense fighting almost continuously since finishing training, serving in Gaza during the war, then in Samaria and later in Lebanon. She said the tank had been hit twice before: once in an incident involving the battalion commander, and once by a suicide drone that struck the tank without causing injuries. “In the third time, we were not able to hug him afterward,” she said.

Shemesh said her son was due to enter Lebanon the same day Kababia was killed, and was only a few hundred meters away. Kababia’s funeral is scheduled for today at 5:00 p.m., with the procession leaving from his home with flags. She said he put the country ahead of his own comfort and his girlfriend, and added that the fallen soldiers must be remembered as “the children” who made it possible for others to live in safety.