Sgt. Nathan Lyard, 20: French-Israeli returned to battle after injured

Sgt. Nathan Lyard, 20, was killed in action fighting Hamas terrorists near the Gaza border on October 7.

The French-Israeli Lyard was with the Kfir Brigade’s 94th “Duchifat” Battalion.

More than a thousand mourners attended his funeral at Netanya’s military cemetery on October 11, including many from the French community.

“My son, it was your 20th birthday 10 days ago,” his father Pascal said at the funeral. “The most important thing is that we always guard your values.”

A statement from Qualita, an organization that helps French immigrants integrate into Israeli society, reported that Lyard was lightly wounded in an attack and taken in an ambulance to a local hospital. On the way, they encountered terrorists returning to a kibbutz near the Gaza border and Lyard insisted on getting out to return to combat, where he was injured again.

Yehuda Salama, head of the Gour Arié and Levia program to prepare men and women for the army and national service, said Lyard died in the hospital from his wounds.

Salama, described Lyard, a former student, as always cheerful and smiling, that he was a music-lover, played the guitar and piano, and was engaged in his religious studies courses.

“He was exceptionally brave,” Stephanie, a family friend, told Radio France.

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