The 24 dead include five crew members of a Yas'ur helicopter shot down by Hizbullah on Saturday night. The Israel Air Force helicopter, a Sikorsky CH53 model, was shot down by a Hizbullah anti-aircraft rocket on Saturday night. The helicopter was attacked shortly after take-off; dozens of soldiers had disembarked from the craft just few minutes before.
The weekend saw the heaviest days of fighting in the month-long war in Lebanon. though only sparse details have been released about the battles. It is known that an IDF officer and several soldiers were killed when an anti-tank rocket hit a tank in A-Naduriya in eastern Lebanon. Another soldier was killed in the same village when a missile hit a building.
In addition, a soldier was killed on Friday: reservist Sgt.-Maj. Aharon Yechezkel, 32, from Kfar Yedidya, near Netanya.
Among some 40 soldiers hospitalized over the weekend in three northern Israel hospitals are 13 with serious injuries. Over 50 Hizbullah terrorists were reported killed. A Hizbullah terrorist brought to the hospital in Nahariya is listed in moderate condition.
Over 30 Katyusha missiles landed in Haifa, Tzfat and other northern cities Sunday morning, and Katyusha-warning sirens continue to sound throughout northern Israel. One woman has been reported seriously hurt, another woman is listed in "moderate" condition, and two others have been evacuated with light wounds. At least one building in Kiryat Shmonah suffered a direct hit. Israel Radio broadcasts are interrupted every 3-4 minutes with news of sirens in different localities, accompanied by Homefront Command instructions directing residents to take cover.
Even as the fierce fighting continues, the Cabinet is expected to approve the UN-approved ceasefire plan, despite a general perception amongst the ministers that it is not to Israel's advantage. The agreement is to take effect Monday morning.
The Cabinet had decided on Thursday to intensify the ground attack, but held off until late Friday afternoon because of talk of a ceasefire in the UN Security Council. By Friday evening, thousands of IDF soldiers were on their way into southern Lebanon, including by air, bringing Israel's presence some 30 kilometers northward, up to the Litani River. The number of IDF forces in Lebanon has now tripled, to some 30,000.
On Friday night, a Katyusha launcher was destroyed in the village of Dabl in south-central Lebanon, and a truck full of war materiel, including anti-tank missiles, was uncovered.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said last night, "We are fighting against Hizbullah and we will continue to do so until there is not only a ceasefire, but until a mechanism is decided upon as to how international forces will replace the IDF in southern Lebanon."
The names of all but one of the 24 killed over the weekend have been cleared for publication, following notification of their families:
1. Corporal Yaar Ben-Giat, 19, from Nachsholim
2. First-Sgt. Tzachi Kripas, 20, Kibbutz Hama’pil
3. Sgt. Yosef Abitbul, 19, from Gan Ner
4. Sgt. Yaniv Temerson, 21, from Tzipori
5. Sgt. Yehonatan Ankonina, 21, from Netanya
6. First-Sgt. Itai Steinberger, 21, from Karmei Yosef
7. Corporal Tomer 'Aamar, 19, from Julis (Druze)
8. Captain Shai Bernstein, 24, from Be’er Sheva.
9. First-Sgt. Dan Breuer, of Beit Hillel
10. Sgt. Bnayah Rein, 27, Karnei Shomron
11. First-Sgt. Adam Goren, 21, Kibbutz Maabarot
12. Sgt. Oz Tzemach, of Maccabim-Reut
13. Amasa Meshulami, 20, Ofrah
14. Yoan Zarbiv, Tel Aviv
15. Yigal Nissan, 19, Maaleh Adumim
16. Alexander Bonimovitch, 19, Netanya
17. Haran Lev, Kibbutz Mayan Baruch
18. First Sgt. Ido Grabovsky, 20, of Rosh HaAyin
The five crew-members of the downed helicopter:
1. Maj. Sami Ben-Naim, 29, of Rechovot
2. Maj. Daniel Gomez, 25, from Nachalim
3. Maj. (res.) Nissan Shalev, 36, from Kibbutz Evron
4. Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Ron Moshiach, 33, from Gedera
5. Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Keren Tendler (female), from Rechovot
The weekend saw the heaviest days of fighting in the month-long war in Lebanon. though only sparse details have been released about the battles. It is known that an IDF officer and several soldiers were killed when an anti-tank rocket hit a tank in A-Naduriya in eastern Lebanon. Another soldier was killed in the same village when a missile hit a building.
In addition, a soldier was killed on Friday: reservist Sgt.-Maj. Aharon Yechezkel, 32, from Kfar Yedidya, near Netanya.
Among some 40 soldiers hospitalized over the weekend in three northern Israel hospitals are 13 with serious injuries. Over 50 Hizbullah terrorists were reported killed. A Hizbullah terrorist brought to the hospital in Nahariya is listed in moderate condition.
Over 30 Katyusha missiles landed in Haifa, Tzfat and other northern cities Sunday morning, and Katyusha-warning sirens continue to sound throughout northern Israel. One woman has been reported seriously hurt, another woman is listed in "moderate" condition, and two others have been evacuated with light wounds. At least one building in Kiryat Shmonah suffered a direct hit. Israel Radio broadcasts are interrupted every 3-4 minutes with news of sirens in different localities, accompanied by Homefront Command instructions directing residents to take cover.
Even as the fierce fighting continues, the Cabinet is expected to approve the UN-approved ceasefire plan, despite a general perception amongst the ministers that it is not to Israel's advantage. The agreement is to take effect Monday morning.
The Cabinet had decided on Thursday to intensify the ground attack, but held off until late Friday afternoon because of talk of a ceasefire in the UN Security Council. By Friday evening, thousands of IDF soldiers were on their way into southern Lebanon, including by air, bringing Israel's presence some 30 kilometers northward, up to the Litani River. The number of IDF forces in Lebanon has now tripled, to some 30,000.
On Friday night, a Katyusha launcher was destroyed in the village of Dabl in south-central Lebanon, and a truck full of war materiel, including anti-tank missiles, was uncovered.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said last night, "We are fighting against Hizbullah and we will continue to do so until there is not only a ceasefire, but until a mechanism is decided upon as to how international forces will replace the IDF in southern Lebanon."
The names of all but one of the 24 killed over the weekend have been cleared for publication, following notification of their families:
1. Corporal Yaar Ben-Giat, 19, from Nachsholim
2. First-Sgt. Tzachi Kripas, 20, Kibbutz Hama’pil
3. Sgt. Yosef Abitbul, 19, from Gan Ner
4. Sgt. Yaniv Temerson, 21, from Tzipori
5. Sgt. Yehonatan Ankonina, 21, from Netanya
6. First-Sgt. Itai Steinberger, 21, from Karmei Yosef
7. Corporal Tomer 'Aamar, 19, from Julis (Druze)
8. Captain Shai Bernstein, 24, from Be’er Sheva.
9. First-Sgt. Dan Breuer, of Beit Hillel
10. Sgt. Bnayah Rein, 27, Karnei Shomron
11. First-Sgt. Adam Goren, 21, Kibbutz Maabarot
12. Sgt. Oz Tzemach, of Maccabim-Reut
13. Amasa Meshulami, 20, Ofrah
14. Yoan Zarbiv, Tel Aviv
15. Yigal Nissan, 19, Maaleh Adumim
16. Alexander Bonimovitch, 19, Netanya
17. Haran Lev, Kibbutz Mayan Baruch
18. First Sgt. Ido Grabovsky, 20, of Rosh HaAyin
The five crew-members of the downed helicopter:
1. Maj. Sami Ben-Naim, 29, of Rechovot
2. Maj. Daniel Gomez, 25, from Nachalim
3. Maj. (res.) Nissan Shalev, 36, from Kibbutz Evron
4. Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Ron Moshiach, 33, from Gedera
5. Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Keren Tendler (female), from Rechovot