Cpt. Eily Adany, 21: Platoon commander ‘gave everything to his soldiers’
Killed battling the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7
Cpt. Eily Adany, 21, a platoon commander in the Maglan commando unit, from Tel Mond, was killed on October 7 battling Hamas inside Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Eily spent that weekend stationed at the Julis IDF base, east of Ashkelon. He and his team were awoken by the early morning rocket sirens, running for the bomb shelter. But Eilay quickly realized that this was no standard rocket fire, and ordered his soldiers to get their equipment ready and prepare to head into battle.
They headed down south, and along the way Eily turned and said to his soldiers: “The day we’ve been training for has arrived.” They arrived first at Sderot, hunting for terrorists holed up inside homes, before they were called to head to Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Inside the kibbutz, they encountered heavy gunfire, and worked for hours to rescue families and battle the scores of Hamas gunmen. Around 2:30 p.m. he entered a home and was ambushed with gunfire from a Hamas terrorist who was holed up inside, and was slain. Two other members of his team were also killed in the battle in Kfar Aza — Staff Sgt. Amichay Vanino, who tried to tend to Eily’s wounds, and Sgt. Amit Guetta.
Eily was buried on October 12 in Tel Mond. He is survived by his parents, Orit and Rahamim (Rami), and his younger brother, Yanir.
He grew up in Tel Mond, near Netanya, known for his wide smile. He spent much of his time with Yanir, who was two years younger, according to a memorial website. He attended local schools and was active in the scout troop as first a participant and later a counselor. He also played volleyball with a local team for more than five years and was a devoted fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer team.
Throughout high school, Eily was thinking about his eventual enlistment in the IDF, and working out and preparing physically and mentally for an intense combat role — which he received when he enlisted in March 2020, serving in the Maglan commando unit. He later underwent an officer’s course and in March 2023 was appointed to lead his own team in the elite unit.
“Eily was our heart and soul,” his mother, Orit, told a local news outlet. “He wasn’t our son, he was more like our Dad. Always taking care of us. He was very brave, was super motivated and dedicated to protecting the country. There’s nobody who saw his kind eyes and didn’t fall in love with him.”
Orit said Eily “always had a smile and endless generosity, a big heart. His teachers loved him, he always gave us so much pride and comfort. He did everything the best he could, including in the scouts and playing volleyball, even if it required a great effort and many sacrifices, just as he did in his role as platoon commander. He gave everything to his soldiers and always said he wanted to be worthy of the role.”
His younger brother, Yanir, told Ynet during his own IDF beret ceremony just a month after Eily was killed, that “I had a brother who was a hero, was incredible. I went to the commando unit because of him. I loved him so much, I admired him… Eily was a leader, a commanding and admired commander who was a role model and example for his soldiers and knew how to lead them through very complicated operations.”
Yanir said the pair “were very close and I miss him so much. His loss is so felt. I will always tell everyone about my brother the hero, who fought bravely against terrorists and was killed. I lost a brother who was an incredible fighter and commander and I will try to follow in his footsteps.”
