Sergeant Eliav Astuker
Sergeant Eliav AstukerCourtesy of the family

Kobi, father of the late Sergeant Eliav Astuker, who fell on Saturday in northern Gaza, spoke about his son in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet.

"He's a kid who didn’t know how to say no. He was always like that, from elementary school through to the army. It was always about his friends, friends, friends. He loved his friends eternally. That’s who Eliav was," the father said in pain.

Eliav drafted after October 7th, about one year ago. "We were all shocked by what happened that Saturday. We didn’t leave the house for a month. Eliav prepared for his army service while still in school. He wanted to be a combat soldier. He went to the gym for two years prior to drafting, and was happy that he had been accepted into the Nahal Corps.

"Until a month ago, he was serving in Rafah. He recently told me that he was bored there and he moved to Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and he told me, ‘Dad, here we are working really hard,' and he was happy about it," his father added.

After completing his service in Rafah, Eliav's family had the opportunity to see him, on a three day vacation, after which he moved to northern Gaza. "His mother was scared. I talked to him, but he wouldn’t even consider getting out of there. He said to me, 'Dad, what about my friends? No way!’ He wouldn’t hear of it. He never said that it was hard for him or bad for him. He did things modestly."

Eliav was injured in an explosion in northern Gaza and died of his wounds a short time later. Three other soldiers were killed in the same incident. "At 10 a.m. on Saturday, they were on their way to the battalion commander's place, when they received an order to escort some officers. He accompanied the deputy commander of the Nahal Brigade. He sat in the front because he's a Negevist. They drove over an explosive device that was activated remotely.

My son and two other soldiers from the Nahal Corps went to see what had happened. Because there had been a small explosion before, they thought it was a bullet discharge and as soon as they got out, the terrorists detonated the charges on them remotely. There was a half-hour combat, after which they were evacuated. The platoon commander told me that my son said 'Shema Yisrael,' closed his eyes, smiled, and died in the helicopter."

"His friends from school and the army told me things I didn't know about my son. He would do so much for his friends. He just loved his friends in the army and he wasn't willing to give up. He wasn't interested in politics, it bored him. It was important to him to defend his country, the people. That's what I want them to learn from Eliav," the father concluded.