Staff Sgt. Or Demry, 20, from Moshav Liman, a heavy engineering equipment operator in the 91st Division of the Combat Engineering Corps, was killed by gunfire at a force that arrived to extract a tank on Friday night in southern Lebanon, The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit cleared for publication on Monday afternoon.
Also killed in the incident was Master Sgt. Maher Khatar, 38, from Majdal Shams, also a heavy engineering equipment operator in the 91st Division of the Combat Engineering Corps. A combat officer was lightly wounded in the same event.
The deadly incident occurred at the Magen Tzivoni outpost near Margaliot in the Ramim Ridge, one of the new outposts established by the IDF following the most recent ground maneuver in Lebanon.
A Combat Engineering force, including two D9 bulldozers, set out to extract a tank from the 601st Battalion that had become stuck. During the operation, one of the 91st Division’s D9 bulldozers was hit—possibly by a mortar shell that struck a fuel tank or by a missile—resulting in the deaths of the two soldiers. Immediately afterward, heavy barrages of fire were launched, and numerous targets in the area were struck by fighter jets.
Thousands attended Sunday’s funeral for Khatar, one of the first young men from Majdal Shams to enlist in the IDF. Khatar is the third fallen soldier from the community in Israel’s wars. Two others were killed in 1952 and 1988.
In the past, residents of the town generally did not enlist in the IDF, since mandatory conscription does not apply to Druze residents of the area and because some residents did not hold Israeli citizenship.
In recent years, however, a shift has taken place, reflecting a new trend of military integration among the younger generation, and as a result about 150 young people from Majdal Shams have enlisted in the IDF.
IDF troops stationed at outposts in southern Lebanon are tasked with defending nearby Israeli communities, while the military also carries out numerous offensive operations in the area aimed at removing threats.
Since Hezbollah joined the fighting, more than 200 militants from the terrorist organization have been eliminated. The IDF says the objective of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah, and hopes that severing the organization’s ties to the Iranian axis, alongside action by the Lebanese government, will make this possible.
First published: 15:23, 03.09.26