Sgt. Nehoray Leizer was killed in battle while fighting in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced yesterday.
Leizer, 19, from Eilat, served in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion in the 401st Armored Brigade, the military said. His family has been notified.
He is survived by his parents and two siblings.
According to initial assessments, Leizer was killed by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah.
Leizer’s funeral will take place at 5 p.m. in Eilat. He will be buried in the military section of the city’s cemetery.
The municipality added in a Monday morning statement that, starting at 4:15 p.m., it will hand out flags at the cemetery entrance.
Speaking to Israeli public broadcaster KAN News, Leizer’s sister, Mai, described him as “a humble boy, salt of the earth, with the biggest heart in the world.”
Leizer’s sister: 'He wanted' to serve
“He fought to get in [to the IDF],” she explained. “He wasn’t supposed to get in – he wanted it. We never imagined that it would knock on our door.”
Mai shared that Leizer was supposed to come home on Thursday.
He was a musician, she shared, and wrote songs in his free time. He was also always careful to call and update his family so they wouldn’t worry.
“At any moment he could, he would FaceTime us,” she said. “We all always connected directly, no matter how we saw a phone call from him, and of course, he was always smiling, and he was always making sure to calm us down.”
“Just taking care of our peace of mind, no matter how scared he was inside, and we know he was scared. He didn’t let it affect him; he just looked ahead.”
An additional soldier was severely wounded during the incident and was evacuated to the hospital for treatment. His family has been notified.
Hezbollah's recurring drone attacks on 401st Armored Brigade soldiers
On Saturday, the IDF announced the death of Staff Sgt. Noam Hamburger, who was killed by an explosive drone strike near the Lebanese border.
Hamburger had served as a technology and maintenance soldier in the brigade’s 9th Battalion.
During the incident in which Hamburger fell, another IDF soldier was severely wounded, and a non-commissioned officer was lightly wounded.
On Wednesday, 401st Brigade Commander Col. Meir Biderman had been severely wounded in an explosive drone strike.
In the same incident, a reservist officer was moderately wounded by another explosive drone impact, while a non-commissioned officer was lightly wounded.
Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.