A hard drive containing files from an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war was stolen during a ransack at the family home in Rishon Lezion, his sister-in-law said on Saturday.
In a Facebook post, Mayan Korem Rubel asked anyone with knowledge of the hard drive to contact him so the family could get it back. She said the disc contained all the memories of Staff Sergeant’s family. Made Rubel, 20.
“Its monetary value is small but its sentimental value is priceless,” wrote Mayan Rubel.
The theft occurred Friday-Saturday night at the family’s home on Ha’sipun Street in downtown Central Region.
This is the second time thieves have stolen items containing Rubel’s personal memories.
In 2017, thieves stole a cell phone from Rubel’s father’s car. Channel 12 News reported on Saturday that the device contained pictures and messages of Rubel that he had sent to his father.
At that time the family and the police sought the help of the public in recovering the phone. An investigation was opened and the police were eventually able to locate the device and return it to the bereaved father.
rubel was Killed 19 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip. He was killed by a Hamas gunman who came out of a tunnel and opened fire on IDF soldiers. Another soldier was also injured. The soldiers retaliated, in which the gunman was killed.
Rubel was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Israel sent ground troops to Gaza during the seven-week conflict when the IDF clashed with Hamas-led militant groups in a Palestinian enclave. A total of 74 people – 68 IDF soldiers, of whom 11 were killed in cross-border tunnel attacks, and 6 civilians – were killed on the Israeli side of the conflict. In Gaza, more than 2,000 people were killed, Israel puts the number of civilians killed at about 50 percent, the rest being fighters.