Two IDF Soldiers from U.S. Among The 13 Israelis Who Fell In Gaza

(R-L) Max Steinberg and Sean Carmeli

Two U.S. citizens were among the 13 Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade who were killed since Saturday night fighting in Gaza during heavy combat with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Sean Carmeli with dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship of South Padre Island, Texas and Max Steinberg of Los Angeles, California.

The two were part of a team of seven Israeli soldiers, who were all killed when an explosive device reportedly detonated on their armored vehicle according to the official IDF blog. In the second incident, terrorists opened fire at two IDF soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one soldier while the second returned fire. Later, two IDF soldiers were killed in an attack by a terrorist squad in northern Gaza and three IDF soldiers lost their lives trapped in a burning building.

More information about Sean Carmeli and Max Steinberg was given by The Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center, an organization that assists lone soldiers throughout their IDF Service. Founded by a group of former lone soldiers who came to Israel on their own to serve in the IDF, the center is named after Michael Levin, an Israeli paratrooper originally from Pennsylvania who was killed in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

According to the center’s post, Sean Carmeli was a returning citizen who came from a small town in Texas. “Everything may be bigger in Texas, but the beaches and parties could not distract a native-son from returning home to defend and protect his people…” the center posted on its Facebook page in honor of Carmeli’s memory.

Steinberg came “from a proud Zionist home” in LA and “did everything he could to stand up and fight for what was right,” the post continued.

“They made the ultimate sacrifice, in an attempt to rid the world of one of the most evil, unimaginable and horrible organizations to ever exist,” the post concluded.