Sgt. 1st Class Nitzan Schessler, 21: Reservist, soccer player ‘loved life’

Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitzan Schessler, 21, of the 55th Brigade’s 7155th Battalion, from Hadera, was killed on January 15, 2024, while fighting in southern Gaza.

He was working to clear a building in Khan Younis when he was shot and killed by Hamas gunmen. Two of his comrades were wounded in the incident.

Nitzan was buried on January 16 in Hadera. He is survived by his parents, Erez and Perach, and his sisters, Shai and Shir.

He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and adopted by his parents when he was 12 months old, moving then to Israel, according to an IDF obituary.

Nitzan grew up in Hadera with his two younger sisters, attending local schools, his family said. He had a mathematical mind, loved to travel the Land of Israel and learn its history, and had an eclectic taste in music, his loved ones said.

He played soccer on the Hapoel Hadera youth team and later for the Maccabi Barkai and Maccabi Herzliya teams. But as his enlistment date approached, he decided to put aside any professional dreams to focus on his military service.

Nitzan enlisted in the IDF in August 2020 in the Paratroopers Brigade, completing his service with dedication and pride in March 2023. During his time in the army, he met his girlfriend, Netta Bezman, and the pair quickly became a couple.

After his release, Nitzan and Netta moved in together in an apartment in Kibbutz Barkai in northern Israel. He began working as a security guard, and managed to take a number of overseas trips, including to the Sinai and Greece, as well as a ski trip in Europe.

His loved ones said he was working to save up money for two major goals: A big trip to Australia and a cooking course in Italy.

On October 7, 2023, Nitzan was called up to reserve duty and took part in battles in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. With the start of the ground campaign in Gaza later that month, he took part in a number of battles and operations, until he was killed in action on January 15.

“He was a handsome and beautiful boy, who loved life,” his mother Perach told the Ynet news site. “He was smiley, he loved to enjoy himself… He wanted to have fun, to travel the world. I can’t believe he won’t come back to us anymore. I prayed for God to watch over him, I told him, ‘Don’t be a hero, come back to us safe and sound.’”

At his funeral, Perach said Nitzan had been proud to take part in operations in Gaza but also concerned about the state of fighting: “You sacrificed yourself for the good of the State of Israel. You left us young, you planned your life and didn’t manage to get to any of it.”

His girlfriend, Netta, wrote on an online memorial site that “along with all the pain and sadness, I also have a lot of pride that I got to know a wonderful and strong person with the personality of a lion who fought for our country until the last moment.”

Nitzan, she wrote, “is a pure and special person, funny and witty and another 1,000 different things – just a guy that you can’t not love… there’s no doubt that you are a once-in-a-generation kind of person.”

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