British teenager killed while fighting for Israel in Gaza
A British teenager has been killed in Gaza while fighting for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Binyamin Needham, 19, who was of dual nationality, moved to Israel with his family 10 years ago, Mail Online reported.
He is believed to be the second British national after Nathanel Young to have been killed whilst serving in the IDF since the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The IDF confirmed that Mr Needham had died in a statement announcing the deaths of three soldiers in fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. He belonged to the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion.
The deaths bring the total number of IDF soldiers killed to 75 since Israel began its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in late October, the Times of Israel reported.
‘We are all very proud of what he did’
The IDF said it “shared the family’s grief” and would “continue to accompany them”.
Mr Needham will be buried at a military funeral in Haifa on Tuesday after his body was returned to his family. He was the youngest of six children and has a sister and brother in London, Mail Online reported.
Orli Ferris, his sister, said: “He was such a wonderful, wonderful brother and 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. 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 on Sunday.”
The two other IDF soldiers killed were 36-year-old Neriya Shaer and Ben Zussman, 22. Mr Shaer was killed in the central Gaza Strip, while Mr Zussman and Mr Needham were killed in the enclave’s north.
