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Sunday, July 12, 2026
IDF said to present investigation of Sgt. Gur Kehati’s killing in 2024 south Lebanon incident to family
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A year and eight months after Sgt. Gur Kehati was killed during an unauthorized visit by a civilian researcher to southern Lebanon, the IDF has reportedly presented his family with its operational investigation into the incident.
On November 20, 2024, Col. (res.) Yoav Yarom — who served as chief of staff of the Golani Brigade in the reserves — allowed researcher Ze’ev Erlich to enter the western sector of southern Lebanon, in IDF uniform, to examine an archaeological site without the necessary approvals.
The visit took place at the height of an Israeli ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a week before a ceasefire between Israel and the terror group brought a halt to more than a year of hostilities.
Yarom and Erlich were joined by a team of soldiers as they entered a medieval fortress in the southern Lebanese village of Shamaa, revered by Christians and Shiite Muslims as the 1st-century burial place of Saint Peter.
Believing the area had been cleared of threats, Yarom led Erlich and accompanying troops to the site, where two Hezbollah operatives ambushed the forces, killing Erlich and Kehati. An officer was seriously wounded, and Yarom himself was moderately wounded, before the gunmen were killed.
Kehati’s grandfather, Assaf Agmon, tells the Ynet news site that the IDF scheduled its presentation of the investigation on Friday, July 10, the final day that the family had set as a deadline before filing a petition to the High Court against the military.
“Our darkest fears turned out to be correct,” Agmon tells Ynet after seeing the investigation’s findings.
The IDF has not yet publicly published the findings of the investigation.
Yarom asked to resign from his position a week after the incident, though he was already slated to be dismissed after recovering from his wounds. In December 2025, Yarom was officially dismissed from reserve duty and ended his service in the IDF. A criminal investigation into Yarom’s actions was closed that same month.
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