Staff Sgt. Eyal Mimran, 20: Paratrooper and pizza guru

Staff Sgt. Eyal Mimran, 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion, from Ness Ziona, was killed on July 4, 2024, while fighting in northern Gaza.

Eyal was killed in a battle with Hamas gunmen during fighting in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.

He was buried in Ness Ziona on July 5. He is survived by his parents, Esther and Ilan, and his older brother Daniel.

Born and raised in Ness Ziona, Eyal attended local schools, according to an IDF obituary, focusing his high school studies on theater and communications, and starring in many school productions.

He was active in his local scouts troop, first as a participant and later a counselor, his family said. He loved to read, take photos and travel around Israel, and was into surfing and running.

Eyal enjoyed spending time baking and cooking, in particular making pizza, and he worked in a number of pizzerias, perfecting his dough recipe until at age 15 he started a home business selling them locally under the name “Napoliparty.”

After graduating high school, Eyal enlisted in the IDF in December 2022, joining the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion. He trained and served as a combat medic. Since the start of the war, he served both in Gaza and along the Lebanon border, until he was killed in July 2024.

His older brother, Danny, wrote on social media that “during our childhood in Ness Ziona we would spend hours in the orchards around the house.”

“There were abandoned houses hidden between the trees and I, in a classic show of brotherhood, convinced Eyal that people really lived there,” recounted Danny. “He believed it with all his heart and even made up names for the imaginary residents. Years later we would still laugh about it – about the imagination, the innocence and the magic of a childhood filled with inventions and dreams.”

At his funeral, Eyal’s mother, Esther, said that “it seems as if you knew your time was limited and you took advantage of every moment.

“You had a list of assignments – you were unstoppable,” she added. “You didn’t rest for a moment, you were a counselor in the scouts, a party organizers, a scuba diver, and you were learning nonstop.”

Esther said that while Eyal was stationed in Gaza “you decided to write, you said you wanted to publish a book. Every time you came home for a visit you brought with you little notebooks full of your handwriting… our beloved boy, we will miss your smile, your joy – our hero.”

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