British-Israeli teenager, 19, killed in Gaza while fighting for Israel
A 19-year-old British teenager has been killed in Gaza while fighting with the Israeli military.
Binyamin Yehoshua Needham, who has dual British-Israeli nationality, was killed in northern Gaza on Sunday, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
He was a corporal in the 601st Brigade, Combat Engineering Corps of the IDF but was promoted to the rank of sergeant after his death, the IDF said.
He was among three soldiers killed during a battle with Hamas militants, the IDF said, “after Israeli soldiers entered a building where they encountered Hamas terrorists who opened fire at them. During the battle inside the building,
Sergeant First Class Ben Zussman was killed, as well as Sergeant Binyamin Yehoshua Needham. Two additional IDF soldiers were wounded. The soldiers engaged in close-quarters combat, fired at the terrorists, and eliminated them.”
Sergeant Needham, from Zikhron Ya’akov, near Haifa in northern Israel, was reported to have been born in Edgware, north London, but moved to the country with his family 10 years ago.
He celebrated his birthday two weeks ago and had just finished his professional training, the Mail said. He had spent the weekend with his family and had only been in Gaza for two days, the paper added.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Mr Needham was the youngest of six children, and quoted his sister, Orly Ferris, as saying: “He was so proud, and he had just finished basic training. He was happy to defend the country.”
“He was such a wonderful, wonderful brother and we loved him with all our hearts and we always will,” she said.
He is believed to be the second Briton killed while fighting with the IDF since 7 October, after Nathanel Young, 20, died in Hamas’s massacre.
He will be buried today, the IDF said, added that it “shared the family’s grief”.
The IDF also revealed two of its other soldiers, Ben Zussman, 22, and Neriya Shaer, 36, were also killed while fighting north of the Gaza Strip.
A friend of Mr Zussman said “he had a sense of humour, and was a hard worker who was always invested, no matter the task”.
Shaer’s sister Hadar said her brother as a “humble person, with a heart of gold, a giver and loved his country”.
