Slain soldier’s girlfriend saw his death in south Lebanon from surveillance post, says family

The girlfriend of Sgt. Idan Fooks, 19, watched his killing unfold in real time while on duty as a surveillance soldier, as he was struck by an explosive drone in southern Lebanon yesterday, according to his uncle, Shlomi Arah.

Arah tells the Ynet news site that Fooks’s girlfriend saw the strike as it happened and immediately feared he was among those hit.

“She saw the wounded and asked if Idan was there. They told her no, but she had a feeling he was,” he says, adding that “in hindsight, it turns out she saw her boyfriend, whom she loved so much and who loved her, being killed in Lebanon.”

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Arah similarly describes the moment that she realized what had happened: “She was on duty yesterday. She saw the incident and said, ‘Idan is there.’ Her friends told her, ‘No, that’s not his sector,’ but she saw everything happening live… she immediately made the connection.”

He adds that she was later brought to Fooks’s family home, where “we’re embracing her too.”

Fooks’s grandfather, Kaduri Arah, criticizes the incident amid the ongoing ceasefire, adding: “If there’s a ceasefire, then it must be a ceasefire. If not — fight with full force,” he tells Kan.

Fooks is being laid to rest today in Petah Tikva.