Funerals held for 3 of the 4 soldiers killed fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
‘My son is a hero, but I don’t want a hero for a son. I want my son at home,’ says father of Staff Sgt. Maxsim Entis, 21; Cpt. Noam Madmoni, 22, Staff Sgt. Ben Cohen, 21, also laid to rest
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Three of the four Israeli soldiers killed fighting against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon were laid to rest in Israel on Tuesday, in separate funerals.
The three slain soldiers who were buried were Staff Sgt. Maxsim Entis, 21, from Bat Yam; Cpt. Noam Madmoni, 22, from Sderot; and Staff Sgt. Ben Cohen, 21, from Lehavim.
Staff Sgt. Gilad Harel, 21, from Modiin, was also killed in Monday’s incident. He was set to be buried on Wednesday, according to Hebrew media reports.
All four served with the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit.
In Bat Yam, hundreds gathered to pay respects to the Entis family, including former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
At the funeral, Entis’s father eulogized his fallen son, Maxsim: “My son is a hero, but I don’t want a hero for a son,” he said tearfully. “I want my son at home.”
“The day before you entered Lebanon, I asked if you were afraid,” the father continued, addressing his son. “You told us that you would return: ‘I want children, I want you to have grandchildren.’ We waited for you at home, and you did come back, but only in a coffin.”
In Sderot, at the funeral of Cpt. Noam Madmoni, the fallen soldier’s brother Uri spoke: “I was planning for you to officiate at my wedding in two months, and now here I am eulogizing you over your grave.”
שיירת דגלים וחולצות אדומות בלוויתו של סמר בן כהן בלהבים. נקבר בחלקה צבאית קטנה מאוד שבה עד כה היו 2 קברים, של חיילים שנפלו מאז 7 באוקטובר, של רון שרמן ושל תומר אחימס.
כעת לקברים האלה מצטרף קבר שלישי.
בן אמר לחבריו שאם יקרה לו משהו ויפול בקרב, הוא רוצה שיגיעו ללוויתו עם חולצה… pic.twitter.com/L4ojutDA6P— אסף פוזיילוב (@pozailov1) March 31, 2026
At the funeral of Staff Sgt. Ben Cohen in Lehavim, hundreds of attendees wore red, following a request from the family.
His mother called her late son “a child of happiness, light and joy.”
“We would look at you and not believe what a strong and sensitive son we have,” she continued, according to Haaretz. “Before you entered Gaza for the first time, you told me that if anything happened to you, everyone should come in red. Look how many people here are wearing red.”
“He went on a mission, believing with all his heart that he was going to protect and make everyone live here safely,” Cohen’s father added.
Since clashes between Israel and Hezbollah renewed earlier this month, which started after the Iran-backed terror group began firing rockets and drones into Israel in retaliation for the joint US-Israeli war against the Iranian regime, ten IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon.
Two civilians have been killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.
The Times of Israel Community.