“He fell defending his country”: Yuval López, the Peruvian-Israeli soldier who died fighting Hamas

On Monday the 22nd Israel received the biggest blow against its armed forces since the start of the war against Hamasdeclared after the terrorist attacks of October 7, after 21 soldiers died as a result of an attack while preparing to demolish two buildings in the Gaza Strip. Among the victims was a Peruvian-Israeli soldier identified as Yuval López.

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López, 27, was a reservist and had the rank of sergeant first class. The Peruvian belonged to the Tank Corps and served in the 205th Tank Brigade, in the 9206th Battalion, detailed the Hebrew newspaper “The Jerusalem Post”.

Originally from Trujillo, López arrived in Israel at the age of six and his family settled in the Givat Hahish neighborhood, south of Jerusalem. “López and his family were from Trujillo, they approached Judaism, decided to emigrate and were well received in Israel“, he comments to Trade Bernardo Furman, president of the Hasbará (Enlightenment, in Hebrew) Committee of the Jewish Association of Peru.

The group of Trujillo people who emigrated to Israel between the late 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century are called Bnei Moshe, better known as “inca jews”.

López attended Yeshiva Orot Yehuda High School in Efrat, West Bank, according to the Post. Later, he settled in Alon Shvut with his wife, Sigalit. The family has three daughters between 8 months and 4 years old.

– Fighter –

López worked as a security guard in the Kfar Tapuach colony in the West Bank and was preparing to study automotive engineering. However, when the war against Hamas broke out he did not hesitate to put himself at the disposal of his army.

“He first served on the northern border, but in the middle of the war he was transferred south to Gaza. He loved the army. He loved the state“, Naftali Sikacha, first cousin of López’s wife, told The Jerusalem Post.

According to a close childhood friend of López, identified as Menachem, the Peruvian was going to be released from his reservist obligations in a couple of weeks but, based on one of their last conversations from a few days ago, he was willing to continue fighting for Your army.

Yuval’s commitment to the Israeli military is shared by his two brothers, who are currently fighting in Jenin and the Gaza Strip.

Last Monday, López was part of a team that had to demolish two buildings located 600 meters from the border between Israel and Gaza. In the middle of the operation, however, an RPG missile attack caused the structure to collapse, leaving the soldiers trapped under the rubble.

Although rescue services spent hours trying to free the soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that 21 of them had died.

“Yuval fell defending his homeland and left a great void in all our hearts.”said the head of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, according to “The Jerusalem Post.”

López’s funeral took place on Tuesday the 23rd at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. The Peruvian ambassador to Israel, Manuel Cacho Souza, contacted López’s family to express his condolences and the Peruvian Government did the same through a statement published by the Foreign Ministry.

“We regret the sensitive death of the Peruvian soldier López and express our condolences to his entire family for the tragedy. May the memory of Sergeant First Class, Yuval López, be a blessing and an eternal testimony of his bravery and commitment”Furman said in a statement.

– Endless conflict –

With this week’s casualties, it is estimated that at least 220 Israeli soldiers have perished since the start of the war against Hamas 110 days ago. On the Palestinian side, meanwhile, the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip assures that 25,700 people have died in the enclave, 63,740 were injured and another 8 thousand are missing.

Israel questions the veracity of these figures, ensuring that they are altered by Hamas; However, he claims to have eliminated 9,000 members of the terrorist group during the war campaign.

Despite the dire situation, on Wednesday the Government of Qatar reported that talks seeking a peace agreement failed after Hamas rejected the Israeli offer. The Hebrew government proposed a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of the 130 hostages that Hamas is holding captive in Gaza, in addition to the bodies of those who died in the hands of the terrorist group.

“For us, as Jews, human life and peace are the most important elements that are instilled in us from birth. That is why we very much regret all the deaths and I mean all, those of Jews, those of Palestinians, even those of those who wrongly took up arms to do harm. Unfortunately, there has been a distortion of Muhammad’s teachings in a group that overvalues ​​death; Islam has many ways of being interpreted by different imams. For the vast majority it is a religion of peace, but this small minority that understands jihad as their way of life takes us back to the 15th century.”says Furman.