Golani Brigade suffers largest losses since inception: Israeli media
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After the Israeli army sustained many casualties in South Lebanon over the past few days, Israeli media points out the unprecedented losses the Golani Brigade is suffering.
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Israeli soldier cries during the funeral of a captain killed in action in Lebanon, on Thursday, November 14, 2024. (AP)
Israeli media accused the military of obscuring information and concealing the actual number of deaths the Golani Brigade has suffered in South Lebanon battles, after acknowledging the deaths of seven members, including an officer, commander, and five soldiers, and the injuries of several others of the Brigade's 51st Battalion over the past 48 hours.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the preliminary probe into Wednesday's incident confirmed that the Israeli soldiers ambushed after entering a building in South Lebanon were part of an operation carried out by the Battalion's 36th Division.
In detail, the channel revealed that a well-planned ambush was executed after Resistance fighters emerged from a tunnel hole, opening fire at the soldiers from close proximity. The battle, which presumably lasted three hours, ended with the deaths of six Golani Brigade soldiers and one injury as reported at the time.
On Thursday, another confrontation took place in a location not far from the prior, during which a lieutenant and platoon commander were eliminated, while an officer was critically wounded.
Cost of involvement has been steep
Given the losses sustained, the former deputy commander of the Golani Brigade, Brigadier General (res.) Yoeli Or, stated that the losses are the largest since the brigade's establishment in 1948, stressing that "half of the casualties are leaders, including 22 officers, 37 non-commissioned officers, and corporals."
Yesterday, Israeli media also noted a second point regarding the Golani Brigade, which has been deployed in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, highlighting that "the cost of its involvement has been steep, and its ranks are dwindling."
The Israeli reports noted that the Golani Brigade is facing a significant shortage of fighters, adding that "Lebanon is soaked with the blood of generations of Golani soldiers," tracing the brigade's sacrifices from Goni Harnik, who fell in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon at Beaufort Castle, to Erez Gerstein, who led the liaison unit during the late stages of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. They also mentioned Roi Klein, the deputy commander of the 51st Battalion, who was killed in Bint Jbeil during the 2006 war.
Since the beginning of the war in October 2023, 103 Golani soldiers have reportedly been killed, according to the IOF's numbers.
Read more: 793 troops killed since start of war, IOF say, amid manpower shortage
