Teenage guard shot dead by Hamas after single-handedly saving her comrades

12 October 2023 , 14:02

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Ravit Hana Assayag in Israel (Image: Instagram)

A teenage guard, who was killed by Hamas, has been hailed as a hero after she saved her comrades by gunning down their enemy before she was shot.

Ravit Hana Assayag, 19, an officer in Israel's Border Force, died when she courageously rushed into a wooden shed when the Palestinian militants were hiding on Saturday. The teenager had reportedly cut short a holiday in New York to return to Israel to fight in the village of Yakhini, less than ten miles from the border with Gaza. Just 72 hours before the attack she posted a picture in Times Square where she was celebrating the Jewish festival of Sukkot with her father Shimon.

Ravit Hana Assayag just days before her death (Instagram)

At her funeral on Monday night in Ashdod, southern Israel, her commanding officer praised the teenage officer for her bravery. Commander Baruch Honig reportedly told mourners: "Ravit insisted on going in first. She was killed but she saved the unit, she saved the operation. We were in an olive grove and had been fighting for several hours. We shot eight of them. Ravit killed three.

"We thought they were all dead. We did a sweep of the area and Ravit went to check a shed in the olive grove. She insisted on going in first. She asked me to cover her. She was shot. But if she had not gone in there, he would have wiped us all out. She saved the unit."

Shimon Assayag told MailOnline through tears: "My daughter wanted to be a border guard. I have brought up my children to do their duty for the nation. However, she did not have to go into the military, she could have some other kind of national service. But she insisted on joining a combat unit. She wanted to protect our country, to protect Israel. She told me, 'Dad, I have another family now, their name is the Border Police. I have to get back to them.'"

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He said she was a budding makeup artist, as well as a singer-songwriter and was the third of her siblings to join the Israeli military. Her mother Ruthie told MailOnline: "I have three children in the military, including Ravit – the army, the navy, the air force. Another [of my children] is supposed to be drafted in July. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that does not happen."

The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, residents are facing ever-growing uncertainty after the territory's only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday. Without power, communication is limited and information is scarce.

At least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and over 6,200 have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began, Palestinian health officials said Thursday. Of the dead, nearly 450 are children and 250 are women. The war has claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides since Hamas launched its attack on Israel last Saturday.

Rachel Hagan