Only hours after confirming the death of Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster during the ground with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday confirmed that at least seven more soldiers were killed in action across the frontlines. Several other troopers including a medic suffered life-threatening injuries in the clashes with Hezbollah, IDF said.
Four of the fallen seven belonged to the Egoz Commando Unit to which Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster belonged. The 22-year-old team commander was earlier declared the first casualty of the ground war in Lebanon by Tel Aviv. The four commandos, including another a team commander, lost their lives in the same offensive in a southern Lebanon village where Captain Eitan Oster was killed, IDF was quoted as saying by The Times Of Israel. They were identified as team commander Cpt. Harel Etinger (23), Sgt. First Class Noam Barzilay (22), Sgt. First Class Nazar Itkin (21) and Sgt. First Class Or Mantzur (21).
Four more commandos and an officer were injured in the said operation.
According to IDF's official website, the Egoz unit was established to combat Hezbollah "and to this day it specializes in guerrilla warfare, mainly along the northern border of the country." The Commando Brigade formed in 1995 "has a unique weapons division – the unit's development company, which is responsible for finding creative solutions and technological innovations for problems that arise in the field, and providing protection against new enemy attacks," the website said.
Meanwhile, two soldiers of the IDF's Golani recon unit were also killed in another part of the offensive. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Almken Terefe (21) and Staff Sgt. Ido Broyer (21).
The seventh fallen Israeli soldier was named as 23-year-old Cpt. Itai Ariel Giat of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit by the Israeli media.