Thousands of people took part in the funeral of a 27-year-old Indian-origin Israeli soldier killed after being hit by a mortar shell near the Gaza Strip border while Israel was holding fire under a UN-brokered humanitarian truce.
Barak Refael Degorker, killed on Saturday night, was laid to rest on Sunday in a military cemetery in his hometown of Gan Yavne. The bereaved family, parents Ora and Moshe and two younger brothers, while inconsolable at their loss spoke about “kind hearted” Degorker whose death has left a “permanent void” in their lives.
The two brothers, also doing reserve duty at the Gaza border, were the first ones to receive the news of Degorker’s death. “My brother would volunteer in all situations and he would do whatever was required of him,” one of the brothers said at the funeral breaking down in tears.
His sister said it was “hard to wake up to a world in which you are not here. It’s hard to describe the pain. You are everyone’s hero and my personal hero. I love you my brother, guard us from above.”