Binyamin Needham, a 19-year-old British national, has been killed in Gaza while fighting for the IDF, Sky News understands.
Sergeant Needham, who had dual nationality, moved to Israel with his family 10 years ago, and is understood to be the second British national after Nathanel Young to have been killed whilst serving in the IDF since the 7 October attacks.
The soldier was born in England and was the youngest of five children, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said.
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Explosions rock Gaza
Mr Needham, who was from Zichron Yaakov, fought with the 601st Battalion of the Combat Engineering Corps, the Times of Israel said.
Israeli officials, said he had only been in the Gaza Strip for two days when he was killed in action and only celebrated his birthday two weeks ago, according to The Mirror.
His sister Orli Ferris told the paper he was “a wonderful, wonderful brother.
“We loved him with all our hearts and we always will. He will be missed by all of us and so many others, but we will always make sure we remember him in our hearts.
“Nothing will be the same now, but we are all very proud of what he did and he was also proud of what he was doing.
“He had just finished his apprenticeship and was doing his professional training.
A woman mourning in Gaza. Pic provided by Stuart Ramsay.
“We don’t know the exact details of what happened but he was only in Gaza for two days. He went in on Friday and died Sunday.”
The teenager was one of three soldiers who died in combat operations in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the IDF said on Monday.
The other two fatalities were named as Sergeant Major Neriya Shaer and Sergeant 1st Class Ben Zussman.
Their families have been informed, the Times of Israel said.
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More than 15,500 Palestinians and more than 1,200 Israelis have been reported killed in the fighting since 7 October, according to the UN.
Since the start of the war on 7 October, 401 Israeli soldiers have been killed, the IDF has said, 75 of those during the ground offensive inside the Gaza Strip.
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