Ayelet, the mother of Staff Sergeant Liam Hazi, who fell in a clash with terrorists in Jenin last week, told Kan Reshet Bet this morning that the fact that he was the first to enter the building saved his comrades.
"He wasn't supposed to be in this confrontation. After the operation he was supposed to return to his base, it was his last operation - literally," she related.
Ayelet spoke about her son's special character: "He was a good boy, took the world by storm. He had a beautiful relationship with Gal. He had an amazing relationship with his siblings. I don't know how to go on from here."
She added: "He went in first, his friends were lightly wounded, he saved them. He told them: 'I won't die for no reason, I will die for something significant, for the people of Israel.'"
Hazi, 20, served as a soldier in the ‘Haruv’ Reconnaissance Battalion of the Kfir Brigade. In the incident, which was part of Operation Wall of Iron, another soldier from the battalion was severely wounded along with another four soldiers, three moderately and one lightly.
The gunbattle occurred while the forces were searching buildings in Jenin. In one of the buildings, two terrorists ambushed the forces. The terrorists managed to escape and the forces began to pursue them. Several hours later, in a joint IDF and ISA counterterrorism activity, IDF and additional forces encircled the structure the two terrorists had retreated to and eliminated them.