Golani Platoon Commander David Hazut, 21, Killed in Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the death of Captain David Hazut, 21, from the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, a platoon commander in the Golani Infantry Brigade, who fell in combat in southern Lebanon. The announcement was carried on 28 June 2026 by the Tazpit Press Service, an Israeli news agency.

The circumstances of his death were not disclosed. Another soldier was lightly wounded in the same incident, was taken to hospital for treatment, and his family was notified. The military released nothing further: no location, no description of the engagement, no unit detail beyond the brigade.

The brigade he commanded a platoon in

Golani is the IDF's northern infantry brigade and one of its oldest formations, raised on 22 February 1948 when an earlier brigade deployed along the Lebanese border was split in two, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. It was originally stationed in the valleys and hills of the Lower Galilee, and has fought in every major Israeli conflict since 1948, with its operational geography running along the northern border, the Golan Heights and Lebanon. Its component units include the Egoz special forces unit and a reconnaissance unit, both trained for the kind of close-quarters work that the current campaign has demanded.

A platoon commander is typically among the youngest officers in a line infantry unit and moves at the front of it. Hazut was 21.

The campaign he was killed in

Israel launched what it called limited and targeted ground operations against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on 16 March 2026, with troops of the 91st Division moving on strongholds including the town of Khiam on high ground near the border. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the aim was to remove threats and protect residents of the Galilee and the north, Al Jazeera reported at the time. The same report recorded heavy Lebanese displacement and civilian casualties from Israeli strikes.

By May the operation had reached deeper. The IDF said troops led by the Golani Brigade's reconnaissance unit had carried out a week-long raid across the Litani River near Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, about 10 kilometres from the Israeli border, destroying tunnels, weapons stores and rocket launchers before withdrawing to the line the army calls the Yellow Line, The Times of Israel reported on 12 May 2026. Fighting inside the Israeli-declared security zone continued through June, with troops working to demolish Hezbollah infrastructure and coming under rocket and drone attack, the paper's liveblog recorded later that month.

What is still unclear

The IDF did not say where in southern Lebanon Hazut was killed, what type of engagement it was, or whether the incident is under investigation. The second soldier was not identified and his unit was not named. Nor did the announcement say when the incident occurred, only when the death was confirmed.