Sgt. First Class (res.) Lidor Porat, 31, from Ashdod, was killed in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced Sunday mornng. Porat, a fighter in Battalion 7106 of the 769th Regional Brigade, was killed after an IDF engineering vehicle struck a Hezbollah explosive device, wounding nearby soldiers.
The IDF said one soldier was seriously wounded, four were moderately injured and four sustained light injuries. The wounded were evacuated to hospitals for treatment and their families were notified.
A force operating near the device had been deployed to secure the area. The IDF is investigating the remaining details of the incident. The soldiers received initial treatment on site and were airlifted for further care. Immediately after the explosion, targets in the area were struck.
On Saturday, it was cleared for publication that Warrant Officer (res.) Barak Kalfon, 48, from the community of Adi in the Jezreel Valley, was killed in southern Lebanon in a separate incident in which reserve paratroopers triggered an explosive device. Kalfon is survived by his wife, Shimrit, and two daughters, Noga and Mia. Three additional soldiers were wounded in that incident, two moderately and one lightly, and were evacuated to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
The incident in southern Lebanon occurred during an operational mission to clear buildings in the southwestern sector, about 3.5 kilometers from the border. Kalfon was the first to enter a booby-trapped structure in the village of Jibin alongside his company commander. During the search, an explosive device planted by Hezbollah detonated.
Kalfon was critically wounded and airlifted to Rambam, where he underwent emergency surgery and was later connected to an ECMO machine in an effort to save his life. Despite prolonged efforts by medical teams, he was pronounced dead. He is set to buried today at 2 p.m. in the military cemetery in Adi. An initial investigation suggests the device was not remotely detonated.