Captain Nir Binyamin from Givatayim always told his family that he would propose to his long-time girlfriend once the Israel-Hamas War was over.
He was 29 years old when, in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Hamas forces fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the building within which he and his unit were operating. He fell in battle as a result.
An officer in Battalion 8208, Brigade 261, Binyamin was a "kind-hearted genius," according to Aliza Moshe, Binyamin's aunt.
"He was a combat officer who gave up on getting released and chose to continue serving," she said.
Binyamin left behind a father, mother, sister and girlfriend.
A loved one with endless potential and a strong presence
"On Friday he suddenly came to [dinner], he was off, he said he was fed up already and it had been going on for too long," his father, Ofer, told Walla. "I told him, 'Don't go back,' and he said, 'How can you say that? If I don't fight, who will?'
"The country lost a perfect kid, an engineer who was sure to be successful," he concluded. "He's been living with his girlfriend for two years in Givatayim and always said that after the war, he'd propose."
Aviya, his sister, shared funeral information on her Facebook, alongside the simple and heartbreaking message: "My brave brother."
Nir was born and raised in Tiberias by parents Ofer and Michal. The city's municipality marked his death, saying in a statement, "The city hurts and bows its head for... the late soldier Nir Binyamin who fell yesterday in the Gaza Strip."