Israeli Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth has revealed dramatic details of the chaotic hours following the killing of the commander of the Israeli army’s 52nd Armored Battalion during fierce fighting with Hezbollah resistance fighters in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Tibnit.
According to the report, released on Thursday, a lieutenant colonel identified as (N) received an urgent call from the commander of the 401st Brigade: “The commander of the 52nd Battalion was killed. You have to come… now.”
The call took place just three hours after arriving home in the Khan Arogot settlement in Gush Etzion. The officer immediately grasped the gravity of the situation and rushed to the area of the fighting, where he encountered what the newspaper described as a “difficult and unbearable” scene.
“The scenes were difficult and unbearable: an exploded tank, a burning area, and all of this under a barrage of mortar shells and explosive drones,” the officer told the paper.
The report noted that the incident unfolded in the final days leading up to the ceasefire on June 20, a period during which Hezbollah fighters intensified operations, focusing their firepower on units of the 52nd Battalion deployed in the area.
Last week, the Israeli army had confirmed the killing of a senior officer holding the rank of lieutenant colonel along with three soldiers, after their tank was struck by a drone in a precise ambush by Hezbollah’s Islamic Resistance fighters in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah resistance group affirms that Ali Al-Taher and Kfar Tibnit area in the southern Lebanese region of Nabatieh will remain an "impregnable stronghold" against Israeli incursions.
— Al-Manar English (@manarenglish) June 19, 2026
It said that the resistance fighters are "forging Karbala-inspired epics in defense of their… pic.twitter.com/x8QN1vSms2
Source: Hebrew media (translated and edited by Al-Manar)