Sgt. Lior Ziv

Apr 20, 2003 - IDF photographer Sgt. Lior Ziv, 19, of Holon, was killed and three other soldiers were wounded during an operation to destroy a Hamas smuggling tunnel in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip.

A photographer for the IDF Spokesman's unit, Lior was its first combat casualty.

Cpl. Lior Ziv had been sent to Rafah to photograph Givati soldiers exposing and destroying tunnels for smuggling arms from Egypt. The operation began late Saturday night when Givati brigade infantrymen and engineers in armored vehicles and tanks entered the Sabora neighborhood of Rafah to find and destroy tunnels used for smuggling weapons from Egypt into Rafah.

Lior and the other cameramen remained inside an armored vehicle until other troops cleared the area of hostile elements. But almost immediately after getting out of the armored personnel carrier, Ziv, who was wearing a flak jacket and a helmet, was shot in the head and died instantly. The video photographer was badly wounded in the leg; the sound man was hit by shrapnel and attended Lior's funeral.

Lior was admitted to the IDF Spokesman's filming and photography unit after strict entrance exams. The unit consists of 30 people, mostly video photographers and a few stills photographers. He did not tell his mother that he had undergone combat training because he did not want to worry her. The operation in Rafah was Lior's first complex mission.

Lior studied photography and art at the Eilon High School in Holon and displayed his photographs at school exhibitions. The camera was also an integral part of his social life: he documented his friends and the parties and events he helped organize. His friends described him repeatedly as "overflowing with kindness."

Lior Ziv, posthumously elevated to the rank of Sergeant, was buried at Holon's military cemetery. He is survived by his parents, David and Miriam, his sister Gili (24) and brother Daniel (12).