This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
The mother of a female soldier who was killed by a Hezbollah drone on Thursday laid bare her grief at her daughter's funeral.
Burying Sergeant Rotem Yanai yesterday, Hilit Yanai said: “I have no idea how I'll go on without you.”
Her 20-year-old daughter is the latest Israeli soldier to be killed by an exploding drone from Lebanon.
Serving with the 435th Battalion, Givati Brigade, Yanai is believed to be the seventh member of the IDF to have been killed by a Hezbollah drone since a fragile ceasefire was agreed last month.
The funeral was attended by many of Yanai’s military comrades, and took place in Binyamina-Givat Ada, the fallen soldier's home town in northern Israel.
According to Ynet, her devastated mother said: “Rotem, my child, the sunshine of my life and a ray of light to so many. No one can prepare you for the incomprehensible disaster and the pain that will never end. I lost the most precious thing to me.”
The IDF has launched a wave of bombings across southern and eastern Lebanon in recent days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that it would be “intensifying operations” in response to Hezbollah attacks.
This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
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