Family says IDF not upfront about son’s death alongside researcher in Lebanon

Army chief orders probe expedited into circumstances surrounding the killing of Sgt. Gur Kehati and civilian septuagenarian Zeev Erlich in November

Sgt. Gur Kehati. (Israel Defense Forces)
Sgt. Gur Kehati. (Israel Defense Forces)

The family of a soldier killed in November alongside a civilian archaeologist who was brought into southern Lebanon without official authorization accused military authorities of blurring the circumstances of the incident, saying they only learned that he had died outside ordinary combat activity from the media, according to a report this week.

Questions have swirled around the deaths of Golani Brigade combat medic Sgt. Gur Kehati, 20, and historian Zeev Erlich, 71, since they were both killed on November 20 by Hezbollah gunmen in the southern Lebanese village of Shama. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered the Military Police this week to expedite a criminal investigation into the incident.

Though Erlich had an IDF uniform and was accompanied by a senior officer, the researcher had no official authorization from the army to be in Lebanon, where he was reportedly attempting to study a medieval fortress and nearby shrine revered by Christians and Shiite Muslims as the 1st-century burial place of Saint Peter.

According to an investigation aired by Channel 13 news Tuesday, Kehati’s family was initially given no details about their son’s death. They only learned that it was not an ordinary combat incident on the radio the next day, when they heard that a civilian was killed alongside their son and that the army described the incident as a “failure.”

The soldier’s father, Ron Kehati, told Channel 13 that the army had told him his son was a “hero,” and saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

Ron Kehati added that when he asked an officer for further details about the incident, the officer, Lt. Col. Uri Sapir, insisted that the visit to the shrine compound, referred to as a mosque in the report, was for “operational” purposes.

Israeli researcher Ze’ev Erlich seen in IDF uniform on November 20, 2024, hours before he was killed in a gun battle with Hezbollah operatives. (IDF Spokesman)

In a recording of the conversation, Sapir says that the mission was planned and organized to recover a body of a terrorist that was killed there days earlier, during an incident that led to the death of another soldier, Sgt. Ori Nisanovich.

Lebanese reports in the days prior to the incident indicated heavy fighting in the area, including an Israeli airstrike that heavily damaged the shrine.

Kehati said that the family started to piece together troubling details when they were approached by other soldiers from their son’s unit.

“After each soldier spoke to us, we were more and more shocked,” Kehati said. The report included audio of the conversations with the soldiers, which Kehati had recorded. “Nothing was organized. Nothing.”

According to the family, two of the unit’s commanders came to their house and presented them with aerial photographs of the area where the incident occurred.

One of the soldiers said that he had personally gone to the area of the mosque a day before to search for the missing body, and found nothing. He then said he was approached by Golani Brigade chief of staff Col. Yoav Yarom, who told him to plan the mission to the area in any case.

When the day arrived, Yarom, who accompanied the team on the mission, told the soldiers that Erlich, the 71-year-old archeologist, would also join them.

When the team approached the shrine, they concluded that the terrorist’s body was likely under the rubble, and were set to return to their base, but plans changed.

According to the report, one soldier said he overheard Erlich and a commander talking about the adjacent fortress, specifically mentioning an inscription on a wall.

Some soldiers, including Kehati, then joined Erlich as he descended into the Crusader castle, where they were immediately fired upon by Hezbollah operatives who were hiding in the compound.

Erlich was killed instantly, and Kehati was shot and killed while rushing to provide medical aid to a wounded comrade. Yarom was moderately wounded in the battle and a company commander with the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion was also seriously wounded in the same incident.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, center-right, meets with officers in southern Lebanon, December 29, 2024. (IDF)

The army said Wednesday that Halevi had ordered a Military Police investigation into the deaths of Erlich and Kehati be expedited, and that a separate probe — which could result in disciplinary measures, but not criminal charges — be frozen until the Military Police probe has been completed and its findings have been handed over to the Military Advocate General for review.

The army said in response to the Channel 13 report that findings of the investigations would be passed to the Military Advocate General and to the families of Erlich, Kehati and those injured immediately upon completion.

Kehati’s family has previously spoken out against the handling of the incident. During a memorial conference for Erlich in the West Bank last week, Kehati’s parents and other relatives staged a fuming protest accompanied by reporters from Channel 13 and Haaretz, criticizing participants for forgetting their son and holding the event before the probe was completed.

“When the IDF is conducting a military police investigation against someone who, in a criminal act, caused the death of an IDF soldier, you cannot come in an IDF uniform and give credence to the event,” the soldier’s grandfather shouted at a brigade commander who was speaking.

On Tuesday night, Halevi and other commanders were presented with the initial findings of a separate investigation headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Moti Baruch, into a number of combat incidents, including Kehati’s and Erlich’s deaths, the army said.

The team of 11 officers — mostly reservists — was tasked with “formulating a detailed situational picture regarding the maintenance of operational discipline, the rules of conduct and norms in army units” on the northern and southern fronts, though not in the West Bank.

“The team found that due to the operational fatigue of the various units, which have been in combat for over a year and three months, there was a growing relaxation of discipline and safety measures across various units, which manifested in the incorrect use of weaponry and led to operational accidents that could have been prevented,” the military said.

Most Popular
read more: