Family, friends and members of the public yesterday gathered for the funeral of 20-year-old Sergeant Roi Daoui, one of 11 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza by an anti-tank missile strike.

The ceremony took place at the Mount Herzl national military cemetery, which sits on a hill overlooking Jerusalem and covers 25 acres of terraced land where the bodies of those fallen fighting for Israel are laid to rest in uniform graves regardless of rank.

Hundreds of people silently filed up the steps and gathered among the fresh graves of soldiers killed since October 7, some during Hamas’s attack on Israel and others during the ongoing military operation inside Gaza.

Some mourners held the blue and white flag of Israel. Civilians and soldiers gathered side-by-side under a canvas providing shade from the autumn sun.

Relatives of Daoui took it in turns to say their farewells to a young man who reportedly had only two weeks of national service left, before Hamas carried out its murderous cross-border raid.

Those gathered sobbed in shared grief at his death in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after an armoured personnel carrier belonging to Daoui’s Givati Brigade was struck by Hamas terrorists.

With over 200 hostages still being held in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to destroy Hamas once and for all, Israelis fear there will be many more funerals like this to come.