In the video: The family home of soldier Nitzan Shessler/Shlomi Gabbay
Sergeant Major (res.) Nitzan Shessler, a soldier in the "Spearhead" Brigade who fell yesterday in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, was laid to rest a short time ago (Tuesday) at the military cemetery in Hadera. Schessler is survived by his parents, his mother Farah, an operating room nurse at Hillel Yaffe Hospital in the city, and his father Erez, a warehouse manager at a business, and sisters Shai and Shir. His family is sitting shiva on Hativat HaNahal Street in the city. Nitzan's organs will be donated for transplantation.
"He was an athlete at heart," the parents said of Nitzan, the boy who grew up right across the street from the old soccer field and spent most of his childhood free time there. "He was a brake in his soul and he defended the gate" and in his death, as in his life, "he wanted to be a paratrooper like a father," his mother said of his military service and the last hundred and several days he fought in the Gaza envelope and then until his death, in the Gaza Strip.
Nitzan Schessler/Courtesy of the family
Sisters Shai and Shir alongside their parents at the funeral of Sergeant Major (res.) Nitzan Shasler. January 16, 2024/Shlomi Gabbay
Sergeant Major (Res.) Nitzan Schessler's mother leans over his grave. January 16, 2024/Shlomi Gabbay
22-year-old Nitzan Shessler grew up and was educated in Hadera, attended Ilan Ramon elementary school, New High School in Beit Eliezer and later Hadera High School. He was an outstanding soccer player for the Hapoel Hadera boys. "But somewhere in high school it ended and he decided to invest in the army," his mother said.
Schessler was discharged a few months before the war, managed to travel a bit with friends, moved in with his girlfriend Neta from Kibbutz Afikim in an apartment he rented on Kibbutz Barkai and worked not far from there as a security guard at Shaar Menashe Hospital.
On October 7, news of the war caught him there, he went on reserve duty and has been on active duty ever since. "It shouldn't have happened to him. After all, he was my mascot," his mother said this morning through tears, "There were fears throughout the fighting, but I assumed that if he passed through the regular army unscathed then nothing would happen to him in the reserves. Much he didn't tell. He didn't want to scare and upset us, especially his sisters."
Yifat Shasha Biton at the funeral of Sergeant Major (res.) Nitzan Shessler. January 16, 2024. January 16, 2024/Shlomi Gabbay
The funeral of Sergeant Major (res.) Nitzan Shasler. January 16, 2024. January 16, 2024/Shlomi Gabbay
Funeral of Nitzan Shassler z"l/Shlomi Gabbay
"We understood that what he saw in the village of Gaza was very difficult and affected him greatly. On the last visit, he was completely unable to talk about what was happening there in Gaza. He was restless. Upset. He came, wanted to eat. His sister tried to talk him over but he couldn't talk about it. He wanted to watch English football."
About his last battle, in Khan Yunis, Erez recounted what he heard from his commanders: "They were three, an officer and two soldiers, and they cleared a building. They were in the stairwell covering for soldiers who had gone up to the third floor. There was a hole in the wall as a result of being hit by a shell or rocket, and a terrorist who ambushed them pushed through a barrel, shot and hit them. Nitzan grabbed the bullet in the neck and was killed. The officer and soldier who were with him were wounded."
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