Major (res.) Itamar Sapir, 27, from Eli, was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced on Tuesday.
Sapir was the deputy commander of a company in Battalion 7008.
N12 reported that Sapir was killed on Tuesday morning, when Hezbollah terrorists fired out of a church towards IDF soldiers operating in the area.
Sapir is the tenth soldier killed in Lebanon since the start of the ongoing ceasefire, N12 reported.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett mourned Sapir in a post on X/Twitter, revealing that the fallen soldier left behind a wife and a one-and-a-half-year-old son.
הלב נקרע.
רב סרן במילואים איתמר ספיר, בן 27 מאריאל, נפל בקרב בדרום לבנון.
איתמר גדל ביישוב עלי שבבנימין, ושירת כמפקד פלגה ביחידת מגלן.איתמר הותיר אחריו את אשתו רואי (בת הקהילה שלי כאן ברעננה) ואת בנו הקטן מעיין.
רק בן שנה וחצי.
משתתף בצערה הכבד מנשוא של משפחתו.תודה ששמרת… pic.twitter.com/QOGDMQ5tJA
— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) May 19, 2026
IDF soldiers killed in southern Lebanon
On Saturday, the military announced that Capt. Maoz Israel Recanati, 24, from Itamar, was killed during combat in southern Lebanon.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, he was due to marry his fiancee in about a month.
On Friday, the IDF stated that Staff-Sgt. Negev Dagan, 20, from Dekel, was killed during combat in southern Lebanon.
