Six IDF soldiers fell, Hy’d, in two incidents in southern Lebanon over Shabbos as the military exchanged heavy fire with Hezbollah terrorists following what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire.

The deadliest incident occurred when Hezbollah carried out a coordinated assault — combining anti-tank missile fire with an explosive drone — against an IDF tank operating in the Kfar Tebnit/Ali Taher Ridge area, south of Nabatieh, as part of an operation by the 36th Division under the Givati Brigade Combat Team. The tank was first struck by anti-tank fire, after which an armed drone entered through the rear opening of the vehicle and detonated inside, killing five soldiers.

Among the fallen was the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, Hy’d, 32, of Beit HaShita, who led the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade. LTC Ben Simhon had assumed command on April 20, about a week after the previous commander was severely wounded in combat, and led the unit through two months of fighting. He was married and the father of two daughters. He came from a family of soldiers — he and four brothers served in the 401st Brigade, while another brother served in the Golani Brigade. His wife serves as a combat officer in the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps and Border Defense Corps.

Also killed in the strike were Staff Sergeant Yoav Klein, Hy’d, 21, of Herzliya, and Staff Sergeant Liav Kababia, Hy’d, 20, of Hod Hasharon, both of the 52nd Battalion. Two additional soldiers from the same incident had not yet been cleared for publication.

In a separate strike roughly four hours after the tank attack, an explosive drone struck Commando Brigade troops in the Beaufort area near Tebnit. Five soldiers were wounded, one of them severely.

In a third, distinct incident, Sergeant First Class Nir Ben Ari, Hy’d, 21, of the moshav Kerem Maharal, was killed while serving with the Maglan Unit of the Commando Brigade. Two additional soldiers were severely injured and an officer was moderately injured in the same incident. Ben Ari, who served as a logistics officer in his company, had been scheduled to begin his discharge leave at the end of the month and was to turn 22 in nine days.

His family described him as someone who “loved life, his family, and his friends,” with a special bond to his siblings Guy, Shay, and Shir. A family friend, Nir Baruch, said Ben Ari had a motorcycle test scheduled and a flight booked to Thailand for mid-August, but chose to return to his unit and re-enter Lebanon just a day before he fell.

Assaf Izak, head of the Hof Hacarmel Regional Council, called him “a young man of values who excelled in his studies, an athlete, a fighter, and a commander.” Alfa Weinberger, principal of Kfar Galim High School, where Ben Ari completed his studies in 2022 focusing on biology and physics, noted that the school lost another graduate, Staff Sergeant Noam Hamburger, Hy’d, last month in a similar drone attack in southern Lebanon — calling it “a second and unbearable loss for our community.”

President Isaac Herzog called it “a very difficult and painful morning,” noting that Ben Simhon took command after his predecessor was severely wounded two months earlier and “led his soldiers at the front with determination and responsibility.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the IDF to strike Hezbollah “with force” in response to what he termed a ceasefire violation. The IDF struck more than 80 terror targets overnight, killing dozens of terrorists, and followed up Friday morning with strikes on Hezbollah command posts in the Beqaa Valley. “Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” Netanyahu said.