By David Saffer
Four 19-year-old IDF soldiers of the Golani Brigade were killed by a Hezbollah drone attack in Binyamina, 20 miles from Haifa, on Sunday.
Sergeant Omri Tamari from Mazkeret Batya, Sergeant Yosef Hieb from Tuba-Zangariyye, Sergeant Yoav Agmon from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada, and Sergeant Alon Amitay from Ramot Naftali were named after families were informed of the tragedy.
Fifty eight soldiers suffered injuries seven, seriously in the UAV attack.
According to reports the drone struck 60km from the Lebanese border. There was no siren, the drone struck a dining room. A preliminary IDF inquiry noted two drones were detected. One was intercepted near Nahariya, the second was lost for reasons being investigated.
Family members told media outlets is was a miracle more soldiers were not killed and it was incomprehensible alarms did not alert troops to rush to shelters.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited the training base on Sunday night.
He said: “We are at war, and an attack on a training base in the rear is severe, with painful consequences. You acted well in treating and evacuating the wounded. Support the bereaved families, accompany the injured and strengthen the commanders and soldiers.”
Halevi praised the Golani Brigade for its achievements and resilience in challenging situations.
As fighting intensifies on the northern border 25 IDF soldiers were hospitalised. Two were seriously wounded.
The IDF has been criticised by the United Nations for incidents close to UNIFL posts in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed UN Secretary General Antonia Guterres, stating, “The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones. The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers. We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has reinforced a decision to ban Guterres from entering Israel after his failure to condemn Iran’s ballistic missile attack and and anti-Israel comments.
“Guterres can continue seeking support from U.N. member states, but the decision will not change,” noted Katz.