The eight fallen soldiers
The eight fallen soldiersCourtesy of the families

Details of the initial investigation of battle on the eve of Rosh Hashanah revealed that the soldiers operating in southern Lebanon stormed a building to engage in a point-blank battle with terrorists and prevent any possibility of the terrorists making off with the body of a fallen soldier.

Simultaneously, vehicles used by Hezbollah's Radwan force, possibly to abduct the soldier's body, were attacked from the air.

Immediately after the first encounter in the building where the battle began, one of the soldiers who was killed fell near living Hezbollah terrorists. Fearing the body would be taken, the surviving Israeli soldiers quickly surrounded the building.

His comrades charged inside, as mentioned, to engage in battle with the terrorists - and at the same time, an Egoz drone team identified Radwan force reinforcement vehicles approaching the building - possibly to kidnap the body and escape. The vehicles were attacked from the air, and the terrorists in them were eliminated.

The entire battle was managed by senior commanders on the ground who were at the scene, including the commander of Egoz and the Commando Brigade commander. Throughout the battle, tanks from the 7th Armored Brigade provided covering fire.

At least 30 terrorists were eliminated in the attack, and about 30 soldiers were injured in the incident. At least four injured soldiers remained to fight.

Six Israeli soldiers were killed in action in the battle, the first casualties in the ground offensive into Lebanon. Two others were killed in a separate engagement.

The Egoz Unit is a special forces unit which specializes in camouflage and guerrilla warfare, although the details of their training and operations remain nearly universally classified.