Sigal, mother of Sergeant first class Tom Rotstein, spoke with immense sadness about her son, who was killed in the collapse of a building in Bani Suheila, near Khan Yunis, this past Friday.
The building collapse claimed the lives of Tom and several fellow soldiers: Uri Yonatan Cohen from Neve Yarak, Yoav Raver from Sde Warburg, and Chen Gross from Magen Yoshiya.
In an interview with Ynet, the grieving mother said she still knows very little about the circumstances of the tragedy. “All I know is that I don’t even have a body. He was identified by DNA. He took most of the blast,” she shared. According to Sigal, Tom had commanded two younger soldiers “and he loved them dearly. His entire team, known as ‘Force Rotstein,’ vanished. Tom vanished from the world.”
She described how Tom had been exhausted and was eagerly awaiting his discharge from the army. “He wanted to return to civilian life and start living. He always told me, ‘Mom, everything’s fine.’ He never complained,” she said. “He was waiting for the ceasefire. He had bought a ticket to the US, he planned to travel with his girlfriend, and afterwards head to the Far East. But none of that will happen.”
“Tom was 190 centimeters of sensitivity, smiles, intelligence, exceptional navigation skills, gifted in music, studies, sports, and interpersonal relationships. He had hundreds of friends. People keep coming to us. Handsome it’s not a cliché,” she recalled.
“On October 7, he was urgently called up and has been engaged in combat across all fronts ever since. I want people to know he has two amazing siblings, an older brother and an 18-year-old sister who is now finishing her matriculation exams, and it’s incredibly hard. Tom loved life and loved to travel. I want those who knew him to keep telling his story - because that’s all what we have left,” she concluded.