IDF reserve soldier dies of wounds sustained in southern Lebanon two weeks ago
Master Sgt. (res.) Guy Shabtay was injured in battle in which 5 other troops were killed; is survived by wife, 3 young kids; brother: ‘We fought for his life. Everyone was praying for him’
An IDF reserve soldier seriously wounded during fighting in southern Lebanon two weeks ago succumbed to his wounds, the military announced Friday.
The slain soldier was named as Master Sgt. (res.) Guy Shabtay, 39, of the Alon Brigade’s 8207th Battalion, from Jerusalem.
Shabtay was wounded in an exchange of fire with Hezbollah operatives in a village in southern Lebanon on October 26, in an incident in which five other reservists were killed — Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, 43, from Jerusalem; Master Sgt. (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, 30, from Jerusalem; Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut, 29, from Haifa; Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol, 36, from Eitan; and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal, 47, from Karnei Shomron.
Over a dozen more troops were injured in the incident, while three Hezbollah operatives were killed in the exchange of fire.
Shabtay was buried at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery on Friday.
Shabtay was born in Ramat Gan to a secular family and played soccer for Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda youth teams.
His brother Shai told the Ynet news site that his brother spent four years at college in Chicago, where he became religiously observant before returning to Israel and becoming a math and English teacher.
Shai said that on Thursday it was clear that Guy would not survive, and the family was able to see him one final time.
“We fought for his life. Everyone was praying for him,” Shai said. “Yesterday we knew it was the end and we were called to come and say goodbye.”
He was survived by his wife and three daughters aged eight, five and three.
Israel stepped up its offensive on Hezbollah in Lebanon in late September, aiming to make it safe for some 60,000 displaced residents of northern Israel to go home.
Out of fear Hezbollah would invade northern Israel, the residents were evacuated after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed the south on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
A day later, Hezbollah-led forces began attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border. The Iran-backed terror group has said its near-daily attacks were in support of Gaza amid the war there.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 41 civilians. In addition, 62 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
The IDF estimates that some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.
