Staff Sergeant Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, from Rehovot, was called by his family "a child of war," who always had a smile on his face. "He was too smart to think about fear," his cousin said.
"He excelled in school and in life. A straight-A student who was always surrounded by friends. We tried to scare him away from returning to fight in Gaza after fighting there for nearly two years, but he said there was no question. He was going back in. We're almost finishing Hamas off."
Ben-Moshe was a graduate of the Rehovot Yeshiva and an admired youth counselor, "who played poker with us and never talked down to us," Yaniv, one of the kids in his group, said.
"So, where do we go from here? The world moves on, the sun sets and people return to their routine. But you? You will not come back," Yaniv said in his farewell to his beloved counselor.
Ben-Moshe is survived by his parents and five younger siblings.
Lieutenant Matan Shai Yashinovski, 21, from Kfar Yona, always wanted to serve in combat and was very good at it, his uncle Amit said.
"He was a modest and quiet man who never complained and never shared his experiences in Gaza with the family. He came home rarely and always tried to calm our fears for his safety," he said.
He is survived by his parents and two younger sisters.
Staff Sergeant Alon Davidov, 21, from Kiryat Yam, was his mother's only son. His parents were divorced and his father, who lives in Russia, was making his way to Israel to attend his son's funeral.
"He was the sun in my life," his mother said.
Davidov was not supposed to join a combat unit, but he insisted and trained as a combat medic. "I did not want to sign the permit that only sons require before they can become combat soldiers," his mother said. "We spoke about it a lot and I finally agreed."
Sergeant Ronen Shapiro, 19, from Mazkeret Batya was an astronomy buff and wore a chain with a piece of a meteorite around his neck. His older brother, Gregory, said Ronen shared little about his service in Gaza, to prevent them from worrying. "We knew only when he went in and when he came out," he said.
They last spent time together when Ronen was on leave and Gregory was back from reserve duty.
He is survived by his parents and three siblings.
