The first Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier to fall in the Third Lebanon War has been named: Eitan Yitzchak Oster, a 22-year-old commando from the central Israeli area of Maccabim-Modi’in-Reut.
According to Army Radio, Oster, a member of the elite Egoz unit, was wounded in a battle with Hezbollah terrorists inside a building in a village in southern Lebanon, following Israel’s invasion on Wednesday.
Army Radio said that Oster received medical treatment under fire.
The Egoz unit is part of the 98th Division, which the IDF said has been fighting terrorists at close range, seizing weapons stockpiles, and destroying Hezbollah infrastructure.
In a recent video that circulated on social media, Oster is seen talking about what motivates him to fight: “A person does not fight out of hatred from what is in front of him, but out of love for what is behind him.”
According to the IDF, Oster was promoted from the rank of lieutenant to the rank of captain after his death.
Over 700 Israeli soldiers have died since the Hamas terror attack on October 7, including over 300 who died in the first day of battle, and over 400 who have died in combat in Gaza.
The number of casualties in Lebanon is expected to grow, but Israelis have decided that their national security is worth the price and are determined to restore over 60,000 residents of northern Israel, who were evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks, to their homes.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
