Sgt. Roei Peri, 19: Golani soldier who loved tennis and playing music

Sgt. Roei Peri, 19, a Golani Brigade soldier from Shoham, was killed on October 7 while battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

Roei was stationed at the Paga IDF outpost near the Gaza border when the attack began. He and the others on base ran to the bomb shelter and soon realized that the base was being invaded by Hamas gunmen. Roei and a group of others decided to head to the gate of the outpost to fend off the attack, according to an IDF eulogy.

Amid the fierce battles, their commander, Cpt. Dekel Suissa, decided to send most of them back to the bomb shelter, but Roei volunteered to stay on. He and Dekel were both slain while battling the Hamas gunmen at the entrance to the base. Ultimately, 14 soldiers out of the 25 from Golani’s 13th battalion stationed at the outpost that day were killed in the attack, including Staff Sgt. Shalev Baranes, Staff Sgt. Itay Glisko and Staff Sgt. Itamar Ben Yehuda.

Roei was buried near Shoham on October 11. He is survived by his parents, Ronit and Ofer, his older brother Ido and his twin Itay.

Born and raised in Shoham, his loved ones described him as being serious and responsible but able to meet any challenge with an optimistic outlook. As a kid he was involved in a wide variety of sports, including tennis, karate, soccer and swimming. He was also very musical, played the drums, saxophone and flute and loved to sing and dance.

Throughout high school, he took part in a physical training program aimed at preparing himself for a combat role in the IDF. He enlisted in December 2022 and was stationed at the Paga outpost just a few months before he was killed.

Roei’s girlfriend of two years, Noyel, wrote on Instagram two months after he was killed: “I still don’t understand what happened and I’m far from internalizing that you won’t ever come back.”

“I make my bed and imagine you jumping on it a second later, I make food you loved and send you a picture, maybe you’ll come visit,” she added. “I try to imagine if you were wounded how I would sleep in the hospital bed with you and stay with you forever.”

“Why? Why you? Why did you volunteer? Why did you leave me here alone?” Noyel asked. “And then I remember your personality. You didn’t think of yourself. You wanted to save the situation. You are my hero and you will be for my entire life.”

His mother, Ronit, wrote on Instagram that while many people say time heals all wounds, “time is not healing, the opposite, every day your absence is even harder.”

“Every weekend time stands still and my heart explodes with pain and longing,” she continued. “I’m waiting for you to call in order to pick you up and bring you home, I’m waiting to wash your uniform, your clothes, workout clothes, your bag. I’m waiting to iron for you, to make those cookies you and your friends like to bring to base on Sunday.”

“I miss the unique moments you had with Ido and Itay that were just yours. I miss you coming with me spontaneously to so many places, sitting with coffee and dessert or breakfast and then going to buy all sorts of stuff you needed for the army,” Ronit continued. “Roeikush — I remember that I have Dad and Itay and Ido and that life goes on, and I remember that I need to be strong and — believe me — I’m strong, but it’s so hard, and my heart hurts so much.”

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