3 Israeli Soldiers, Including 70-Year-Old, Killed in Lebanon

On Wednesday, the Israeli military reported that three soldiers, including a 70-year-old, were killed in southern Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah since late September following a year of cross-border hostilities.

The army identified two soldiers killed in the same incident, one of whom was 70-year-old reservist Ze’ev ‘Jabo’ Hanoch Erlich. Earlier on Wednesday, it had announced the death of a 22-year-old soldier from Jerusalem during combat in southern Lebanon.

These fatalities bring the total number of Israeli military deaths in Lebanon to 52 since the beginning of ground operations.

In the same incident that resulted in the deaths of Erlich and another soldier, a third soldier was severely injured and subsequently hospitalized.

The Yesha Council, representing Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, praised Erlich as a pioneer in the fields of geography, archaeology, and Jewish history in the region known to Israel as Judea and Samaria. Erlich resided in Ofra, one of the earliest settlements in the area.

These developments occur amidst U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire, with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein expected in Israel on Wednesday after discussions in Beirut earlier in the week.

Israel expanded its military focus from Gaza to Lebanon nearly a year into the conflict in Gaza, which was ignited by Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023. In solidarity with Palestinians, Hezbollah launched low-intensity strikes on Israel following the attack, causing approximately 60,000 Israelis to evacuate their homes.