Sgt. Or Mizrahi, 21: A third tragedy for his family

Sgt. Or Mizrahi, 21, of the Nahal infantry brigade’s elite unit, was killed fighting in Gaza on Saturday. This marks the third tragedy in his family from the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva.

When he was 16 months old, his mother died, leaving his father Avi to raise him. Three and a half years ago, his brother was killed in a motorcycle accident.

“We were told that 400 terrorists attacked them and that Or fell first,” Stav, Or’s 28-year-old sister, told the Maariv newspaper. His commander fell after him.

Mizrachi’s girlfriend of three years, 20-year-old Ossie Hazam, said that she and his father and sister had been planning to take food to him on Saturday. The last conversation between the couple took place by video on Saturday morning.

“He said there were missiles, showed me the skies, and there were dozens of rockets. He showed me he was sheltering behind a wall, and then said he saw a vehicle near the base and had to go and help because that was his job as a soldier. He told me he loved me the most in the world, but that he had to go and help civilians. We were still on video when suddenly he photographed half his body and said ‘Ossi, I’m dead,’ and then the phone disconnected,” Hazam said.

Mizrachi had been due to be released from his military conscription in a month, his father said.