Sergeant Nehoray Leizer, aged 19, from Eilat, who was killed in an explosive drone strike in southern Lebanon, was laid to rest on Monday evening in his hometown.
Nehoray's mother delivered a tearful eulogy: "My Nehoray, my love, a successful boy, a boy with values, I am at fault for it all. I educated you to be the best. It is against the rules of nature. Where do you hear that a mother has to bury her 19-year-old son? I sent you healthy and whole, and they returned you in a casket. Look at all your friends, all your friends are here with you, surrounding you. They come to visit us on Fridays when you're not here. I don't know what I'll do and where I'll find the strength. G-d give me strength."
The mother added, "I knew that something was going to happen to you, and you also knew. Why did you go in? We will stay together. No one will forget you. Everyone who received something from you will carry you with pride. To all your friends from the Combat Engineering Corps, return home safely to your families, please. We will love you forever."
Tevel, Nehoray's girlfriend, parted from him: "You were the best person I knew. He is the best person in the world; his eyes say so. He loved everyone unconditionally. Not only me and the family, but also his friends - everyone."
"Inside, I knew, I felt that something would happen. He also knew. I will visit his family now alone. He will be with me, but not in person. I always told him, you will be my one. I waited for your release, for us to move in together," she added.
At approximately 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Hezbollah terrorists launched a drone toward the area of the southern Lebanese village of Debel, where troops from the 401st Brigade were operating under the command of the 146th Division. The drone struck the Namera APC carrying the troops.
23 soldiers have fallen since the renewal of the campaign in the north about three months ago, with the launch of Operation Roaring Lion. Ten of them were killed after the ceasefire was declared. Since the start of the war in 2023, the names of 947 fallen IDF soldiers have been cleared for publication, including 473 soldiers killed in battles in the Gaza Strip and 71 killed in battles in southern Lebanon.
Eli Lankri, mayor of Eilat, said, “We received the bitter news with great pain. Nehoray was a leader in the city’s youth movements. He was a values-driven young man who chose to volunteer for a year of national service before his enlistment, and continued on to meaningful combat service out of a deep sense of mission and love for the people and the land. Nehoray leaves behind a tremendous void - a beloved family, relatives, friends, and an entire city in shock."
On Saturday night, it was cleared for publication that Sgt. First Class Noam Hamburger, 23, from Atlit, was killed Friday afternoon by an explosive drone strike at the Biranit outpost on the Lebanon border. Last week, Maj. (res.) Itamar Sapir, 27, from Eli, deputy company commander in Battalion 7008, was killed by gunfire from a Hezbollah terrorist who emerged from a church in the Lebanese village of Qouzah. Sapir was critically wounded, and medical teams that provided him with initial treatment were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene.