The IDF on Monday named four reservists of the 226th Brigade's 9263rd Battalion killed when an underground compound collapsed during operational activity in southern Lebanon.
They were named as Maj. (res.) Evgeny Zinershain, 43, from Zichron Yaakov, a company commander; Capt. (res.) Sagi Ya’akov Rubinshtein, 31, from Lavie, a platoon commander; Master Sgt. (res.) Binyamin Destaw Negose, 28, from Beit Shemesh; and Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Erez Ben Efraim, 25, from Ramat Gan.
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Top left clockwise: Capt. (res.) Sagi Ya’akov Rubinshtein, Maj. (res.) Evgeny Zinershain, Master Sgt. (res.) Binyamin Destaw Negose and Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Erez Ben Efraim
(Photo: IDF)
The collapse occurred during a clearance operation near the village of Labbouneh. The 226th Brigade’s engineering team was working to expose underground compounds suspected of housing weapons. During the operation, a large explosion caused the collapse of a bunker, burying the soldiers under the rubble.
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Home Front Command teams worked for hours to recover the soldiers’ bodies. No other injuries were reported.
The IDF is investigating whether the explosion was caused by a pre-existing explosive device or accidentally triggered by IDF forces. Officials are probing the possibility that the detonation was unintentional and linked to equipment used by Israeli troops.
Master Sgt. Binyamin Destaw Negose is the 17th soldier from Beit Shemesh to lose his life in the current war. The municipality issued a statement mourning his loss: “The Beit Shemesh Municipality grieves with the family during this painful time and will provide all necessary support.”
Mayor Shmuel Greenberg visited the family, saying: “The tears from the loss of Staff Sgt. Zamir Burke have not yet dried, and now we wake to another tragedy with the death of Master Sgt. Binyamin Destaw Negose. Our hearts ache, and words cannot express the magnitude of the loss. His heroism in defending the people of Israel will forever be remembered.”
Negose’s funeral will take place Monday at 3:00 p.m. at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
Last month, Sgt. Gur Kehati, a 20-year-old soldier from Nir Banim, fell during a battle with terrorists at an archaeological fortress in southern Lebanon. Israeli geographer and civilian Ze’ev (Jabo) Hanoch Erlich, 70, was also killed in the incident. The IDF posthumously recognized Erlich as a fallen soldier and granted him a military burial. A Golani Brigade 13th Battalion officer sustained serious injuries, while Col. (ret.) Yoav Yarom, the Golani Brigade’s chief of staff, was moderately wounded. Yarom resigned following the fatal incident.
On Saturday, Capt. Avraham Ben Pinchas, a 24-year-old tank officer from the West Bank's Harasha, was killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hamas during an operation in Rafah, southern Gaza. Ben Pinchas, a platoon commander in the 46th Armored Battalion, had previously sustained a severe head injury in Gaza two months earlier but had recovered and returned to combat. He leaves behind his parents and nine siblings.
Meanwhile, the IDF reported that an Air Force aircraft, directed by the 98th Division’s fire center, targeted Hezbollah operatives who were operating a weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon. The operatives were described as a threat in violation of the cease-fire agreement, having orchestrated and carried out terror operations against IDF forces and Israeli civilians in recent months.
Additional Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon were targeted throughout the day. “The IDF remains committed to the terms of the cease-fire, is deployed in southern Lebanon, and will act to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the military said.