Meirav, the mother of IDF soldier Sergeant Eyal Shynes, who was killed in the southern Gaza Strip last week, said on Sunday that she spoke with him during the incident in which he fell. "Suddenly, I could hear they were shooting at him. That's how the conversation ended. But we heard everything, it was terrible," she said.
"We didn't hear him anymore. We heard some kind of battle was going on there. I realized he was hurt, and immediately called his welfare officer and informed her that I heard Eyal was hurt,” she added.
"I was sure that I would go out to look for him in some hospital," she said in an interview with Army Radio. "I didn't think I was going to be told he was killed. I didn't really hear the shooting; I heard him shouting and calling for his sergeant. I was sure he was just injured."
"When they didn't call and didn't tell me which hospital to go to, my husband and I decided to drive to central Israel because we knew that it would take us time to get there if he was injured, so we decided to leave in advance," the soldier's mother said.
“They didn't call me throughout and I kept sending messages, I sent one to his sergeant from whose phone Eyal called, saying 'We just want to know Eyal is okay' and he didn't respond, and we began realizing something was wrong, and then they asked me if I was at home and then I really understood.”
Shynes, a soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip. He was 19 at the time of his death and lived in Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan Heights.
Shynes was born in Petah Tikva and moved to Kibbutz Afik at the age of 9. His friends described him as a quiet individual who was always ready to help, loved soccer and coached the kibbutz children. He also loved animals and was a vegetarian.
"Every time you met Eyal, there was a shy smile on his face," according to a friend at Kibbutz Afik. A member of the local community said Shynes "was a good young man, and as part of values he received at home, he naturally enlisted to become a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade." Kibbutz Afik added in a statement: "Our beloved Eyal will remain in our hearts forever."
Meirav spoke about the special bond they shared. "Eyal is my firstborn, he made me a ‘mom’. He was a charming child, you immediately fell in love with him when you saw him, he always knew how to say the right things to connect with you. He loved sports and played soccer, basketball, and tennis. He was good at it,” she said.
“When he came home, he would talk about the war if he wanted to, but we mostly talked about other things. I never understood how he came home and acted like he normally would. He told me, 'I'm sure I'll have PTSD, but I'm not thinking about it right now. I don't want to think about it. I'll take care of myself after I get out of there.'"