He gave his life to the soldiers

The death of Dror Hanin, the first Israeli killed in Operation Protective Edge, left an enormous void • "Daddy is gone, so I won't be happy," says Dror's daughter, two weeks before her birthday • "Dror had a huge heart, full of giving," says his friend.

Nitsi Yakov

Dror Hanin poses with soldiers moments before his death

Racheli Hanin was in the middle of making pancakes in her kitchen in Beit Aryeh when she heard on the news that an Israeli had been wounded in a mortar shell attack at the Erez border crossing. She immediately sensed that the man in question was Dror, her husband and the father of her three children. When Dror did not answer his phone, she called the head of the local council, Avi Naim, and the Beit Aryeh chief security officer, Sharon Alfasi. When both Naim and Alfasi kept hanging up on her, she became even more worried. She knew something terrible had happened, but she didn't know quite how terrible yet.

A short while later, when Naim arrived at the family home and told her that Dror had been critically wounded and that he was hospitalized, she still believed that he would survive.

When evening came, Racheli and Naim were called in to identify the body. "He was so peaceful," Naim recalls. "I looked at him and said, 'Get up, Dror.' I actually waited for him to get up. I have lost a lot of friends, but Dror was like a brother."

Later, at around 11 p.m., Naim returned from the hospital to the Hanin home, escorting Racheli as she prepared to tell her children that their father was gone. "His 11-year-old daughter, Shaked, asked, 'Avi, what is the date today?' I said, 'It is the 15th of June.' She told me that her birthday was two weeks away but added, with the innocence of a little girl, 'but daddy is gone, so I won't be happy.' She ripped all of our hearts out."

When the seven-day mourning period ends, Racheli and the children will face a new reality. "Nothing will be the same ever again," says Dorit, Racheli's close friend. "He was a rare human being."

Hanin, 37, the father of three young children, resident of Beit Aryeh in Samaria, was the first Israeli killed in Operation Protective Edge. After news of his death emerged, news sites began reporting that he had been handing out gift packages to soldiers at the border at the time of his death. None of his relatives were surprised to learn that the last thing he did before his death was an act of altruism and giving while risking his own life.

This was not the first time that he had faced danger, his relatives recounted while mourning his death. Only last week, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at his vehicle. With great resourcefulness, he accelerated and avoided injury. Only his car sustained light damage. "He loved action. Anywhere where there was danger, he was there. Without fear. We warned him that it could be dangerous to go there, but that's Dror," says one of his friends, who came to comfort the family.

Naim also attests to Dror's affection for action and people. "All I heard him talk about for three days was collecting sweets and gifts for the soldiers at the crossing. He was so happy to have the opportunity," Naim says with great pain. "Dror had a huge heart, full of giving."

Six-year-old Yoav is in the yard, playing with friends and riding his bicycle. Suddenly he lets out a peal of laughter, the way children do. One of the neighbors remarks, "He is going to start first grade without a father."

A family member also hears the boy's laughter, and recalls how Dror was supposed to take his daughter Shaken with him to hand out candy at the border. "Apparently something inside him told him that it wasn't safe," he says.

Even though people tend to exaggerate the good qualities of the dead, it seems that nothing defines Dror better than his generosity. His father in law, Shaltiel Shmuel, says that "Dror was a man of grace who loved to help everyone. He could not see someone in need without lending a hand."

Aviv Katz, a neighbor and friend of the family, adds that "even when he slept, he was doing something."

"He was always active, always thinking about where he could contribute just a little more. God picked him out with tweezers," he says.

Something to remember him by

Dror's cousin, Gilad Eliad, also wants to share: "Dror was the salt of the earth. Witty, funny, he had a free spirit. He was always giving, and sadly, he ended up giving his life. The day he died was a difficult day. My sister told me the news. She knew he was going someplace dangerous so she warned him, but he said to her, 'If I look out only for myself, who will look out for the rest of the world?'"

Maozia Segal, the director of social services at the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, ran into Dror about five minutes before his tragic death. Segal says that Dror had enthusiastically asked him to photograph him. "As part of my job, I was touring the Gaza envelope with one of the (council) employees. When we got to Netiv Haasara, I noticed two young guys, happy and effervescent, in a vehicle filled with food and snacks. One of them, who later turned out to be Dror, said that they were going to the Erez crossing to give the food to soldiers. We explained to them how to get there and suggested that they travel with the Netiv Haasara security chief because it was dangerous there. They said that it was okay because their vehicle was fortified. We parted ways."

"When I got back to the situation room, I got a call telling me that the two had been hurt. Now I can at least take comfort in the knowledge that when I took his picture he was happy and filled with joy. It will be something for his family to remember him by," he says.

The mixed communal town of Beit Aryeh was built in the early 1980s, and is home to about 1,400 families. "This is the safest community to live in," Naim claims. "Since the start of the operation, we haven't heard a single siren."

"Unfortunately, this is the second tragedy here in the community," he adds. "The boy Gil-ad Shaer, may he rest in peace, was a counselor at the Bnei Akiva youth group chapter here, and now Dror." Shaer was kidnapped on his way home from school on June 12, along with his two friends Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach. The three were subsequently murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Katz, a father of three, moved with his parents from Petach Tikva to the picturesque town in Samaria. For him, the last few days have been a kind of wake up call. "It is customary to think of people who live in Judea and Samaria as a certain type," he argues. "'Oh, you're settlers, sitting on the hills with Uzis and sandals.' But the fact is that the people here are the salt of the earth. People here volunteer and serve in combat units in the IDF."

The Arab neighbors from the adjacent village call and visit the family as well. "Jews, Arabs, we all live here in peace," says Abed, a resident of the village. "The life of another human being, it is a loss for all of us."