Eight Israeli Soldiers Killed in Lebanon as Clashes with Hezbollah Escalate

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disclosed on Wednesday, October 2, that eight soldiers had been killed during their ongoing ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, marking the first deaths in this phase of their campaign.

The IDF released the names of the deceased soldiers, identifying them as follows:

1. Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a team commander in the Egoz Commando Unit, from Modi’in.
2. Captain Harel Etinger, 23, a team commander in the Egoz Commando Unit, from Eli.
3. Captain Itai Ariel Giat, 23, from the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, residing in Shoham.
4. Sergeant First Class Noam Barzilay, 22, of the Egoz Commando Unit, from Kohav Yair.
5. Sergeant First Class Or Mantzur, 21, of the Egoz Commando Unit, from Beit Aryeh.
6. Sergeant First Class Nazar Itkin, 21, of the Egoz Commando Unit, from Kiryat Ata.
7. Staff Sergeant Almken Terefe, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Jerusalem.
8. Staff Sergeant Ido Broyer, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Nes Tziona.

The IDF reported that the six commandos from the Egoz unit lost their lives in a firefight with Hezbollah fighters in a village in southern Lebanon. Additionally, the aftermath of this encounter also saw an officer and four soldiers sustain severe injuries.

During the operation to evacuate the injured, IDF troops were targeted by mortar fire from Hezbollah, resulting in further casualties.

In a separate incident, two soldiers from the Golani reconnaissance unit were killed.

Hezbollah claimed it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks on the same day as they moved toward the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras, near the border.