IDF soldier killed by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon

Sgt. Aviad Elhanan Wolansky, 21, from Jerusalem, was killed in action in Southern Lebanon during operational activity against Hezbollah terrorists, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday evening.

Wolansky served as a tank crew member in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade. According to an initial investigation, the incident occurred at approximately 3 p.m., when a tank force operating under the 36th Division was ambushed by Hezbollah anti-tank squads near one of the villages in Southern Lebanon, north of the Litani River.

The first missile fired at the force was intercepted by the tank’s Trophy (“Windbreaker”) active protection system, but a second missile struck the tank, fatally wounding Wolansky.

Four additional soldiers—two officers and two enlisted men—were wounded lightly and moderately in the incident. They were evacuated to hospitals in Israel and their families were notified. Israeli forces returned fire toward the source of the attack, including artillery strikes targeting the terrorists.

The IDF said the incident highlights the continued threat posed by Hezbollah despite ongoing efforts to push the Iranian-backed terrorist organization away from the border area as part of operations aimed at removing threats to northern Israeli communities.

Wolansky was the son of Brig. Gen. Yair Wolansky, the defense establishment’s inspector, and the grandson of Rabbi Oded Wolansky, a senior rabbi at the Har Hamor Yeshivah in Jerusalem. He was named after his uncle Avraham Yitzhak, who was murdered in a terrorist attack during the Second Intifada.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended condolences to the family, saying that Wolansky “fought bravely and courageously against those who seek our lives.” Defense Minister Israel Katz praised Wolansky, saying he “fell in a heroic battle in Southern Lebanon while defending the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Staff Sgt. Ori Greenberg, 21, from Petach Tikvah, was killed in action fighting Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon overnight Wednesday. The death toll among Israeli troops since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border terrorist massacre now stands at 928, according to IDF figures.