A few hours earlier, he had wept over the body of his son, who died at the age of 25 while serving with other Israeli soldiers in an operation in the northern Gaza Strip. It was a tragic fate that also affected his 19-year-old nephew today. The losses could perhaps have been avoided if Tel Aviv and Hamas had agreed to extend the ceasefire, which war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot, in opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted.
Former army chief Eisenkot is a moderate politician who supports a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine, although he does not abandon nationalist values. As a member of the war cabinet, thanks to his experience on the battlefield, he was skeptical of a prolonged operation in the Strip and campaigned for a ceasefire. At the beginning of the conflict, he still gave his patriotic support to Netanyahu and his former army: “I will fight the war as if my son were on the front lines in Gaza,” he told a friend.
His son Gal Meir actually went to the front. On Thursday, while he and his friends were embarking on a combing operation on the outskirts of Jabaliya, north of the Strip, a bomb exploded and hit him. Two days later, his cousin Mahor Cohen died, this time in the south. More than 90 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
