First Sgt. Eitan Barak hy"d
First Sgt. Eitan Barak hy"dFacebook

One week before he was killed in Gaza, First Sergeant Eitan Barak was interviewed in military magazine Bamahane, as a platoon commander in the Nahal Brigade who took part in Operation Brother's Keeper. The IDF scoured Judea and Samaria in that operation in search of three abducted yeshiva students, and conducted arrests of Hamas terrorists.

"We went out to conduct the arrest, advancing on foot into the refugee camp,” he said. “In a place like this, it is more difficult to control your soldiers and walking is dangerous, because the residents throw rocks from the rooftops while we crowd together. The IDF does not usually enter the refugee camps during the Ramadan fast in order to respect it, but the sensitivity over the situation made this necessary.”

“We entered quietly,” he recounted, “but slowly people identified us and started to organize, until in a disturbance with dozens of people formed outside the home of the wanted suspect. They started hurling rocks, glass, firebombs – and we used riot gear. I've encountered similar situations but this incident was anomalous in terms of the violent reaction.”

Barak will be brought to rest on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., at the cemetery in his home town of Herzliya.