'You'll be proud of me, yet' slain IDF soldier told family before entering Gaza

Six Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been killed since Israel began its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Staff Sergeant Dvir Emanueloff was the first IDF casualty in Gaza, killed in an operation on the eve of the army's ground offensive. The other five soldiers, killed Monday and Tuesday while on patrol in Gaza, were Cpl. Yosef Muadi, Maj. Dagan Vertman, Staff Sergeant Nitai Stern, Capt. Jonathan Netanel, and Staff Sergeant Alexander Mashkvitzki.

Staff Sgt. Alexander Mashvitzky, 21, of Be'er ShevaAlexander Mashvitzky immigrated to Israel with his family from the Soviet Union in 1991. He celebrated his 21st birthday two months ago.

"He was totally into the army. If I were to say he was 'salt of the earth,' it would be an injustice," a friend of Alexander's, Gal Sasportas, said Tuesday.

He was an excellent student and decided to go for the toughest combat service. He went into Aharai [a project to cultivate leadership among underprivileged youth] to prepare for combat service and began a pilot training course ... He simply loved the army and talked about it all the time," Sasportas said.

Another friend, Diana, described Alexander as "an upstanding person, a true friend. He loved this country... [His death] is a great loss to the state and to us. We miss him and are a little in shock."

Alexander is survived by his parents, a brother and a sister. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.

Corporal Yusuf Samir Muadi, 19, of YarkaThousands of people from Yarka and other Druze villages attended the funeral on Tuesday of Corporal Yusuf Samir Muadi, in the Western Galilee village of Yarka.

The family lived in Haifa but had strong connections to their ancestral home, in Yarka. The family is well-known in the village and beyond, and includes Jabr Moade, who served in the Knesset from 1955-1981.

Yusuf Muadi's father, Samir, related that he spoke to his son for the last time at 1 P.M. on Saturday. "He told me they were getting on the buses, and from then his cell phone was silent. He told me, 'you'll yet be proud of me,' apparently he knew and felt something inside." Samir admits to mixed feelings about the circumstances of his son's death, "but I keep them inside. My son fell in battle, in war, and we believe in fate, too."

In addition to his father, who is coordinator of Israeli activities in the territories for the Agriculture Ministry, Muadi is survived by his mother Wafa, a teacher; a sister, Dima, 16; and a brother, Samir, 14.

Capt. Jonathan Netanel, 27, KedumimNetanel, a deputy commander of a paratroops company, was killed Monday night in the Gaza Strip, most likely due to friendly fire.

Netanel's wife Ziona said she visited him at Sha'ar Hanegev, where his unit was waiting for orders. "He went into Gaza with complete determination," Ziona said.

"I spoke with him and he told me, 'I'll be back and everything will be all right.'"

Netanel studied at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and later at a preparatory school in Eli. As a conscript he joined Maglan, a long-range commando unit, and then transferred to the Paratroops Brigade.

Netanel was buried in the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl Monday evening.

Staff Sgt. Nitai Stern, 21, JerusalemStern, 21, was a soldier in the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion. The youngest of five children, Stern studied at the Jerusalem yeshiva Bnei Hail before he was drafted. His family said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his brother, who also served in Golani.

Hundreds attended his funeral Monday at the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl, including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki.

His father, Reuven, described his son's hard work and achievements at the funeral. His sister, Shira David, said, "We are here to talk about great love. I last saw you busy with your soldiers, immersed in a world of green khaki, and suddenly, in a moment, you were taken from us."

A work colleague of Reuven Stern said he heard him comforting a relative: "Many people in Israel have paid such a price, and now was our turn."

Major Dagan Moshe Vertman, 31, of Ma'aleh MichmashMourners spent three hours yesterday eulogizing Vertman, a yeshiva student and commander, at his funeral at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem. Vertman was killed in Gaza City on Monday.

"It's not unusual to encounter gentleness in the yeshiva world, but to encounter gentleness with a hero like you? We did encounter it with you," said Vertman's friend, Haim Teitelbaum.

The funeral procession, in which thousands took part, started at the Har Hamor Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where Vertman studied for six years before joining the army and where he returned two months ago.

Vertman is survived by his parents, Debbie and Eli, and four siblings.