NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Addir Mesika, 23, was at the Nova music festival in Isreal with his friends, when Hamas militants attacked the site on October 7.
In an effort to save the lives of their female companions, Mesika and several of his childhood friends gave up their lives that day.
Morielle Lotan, Mesika's aunt, called him "a real hero" and believes that he "knew what his end was going to be, and did it anyway," according to the Daily Mail.
Addir Mesika and his group were resting in tents when they heard rocket sirens
The group included Mesika's childhood friends Eli Nachman and Matan, as well as his girlfriend, and another young woman. They got into their car and drove to a bomb shelter close by at the sound of the alarm.
The sirens were for the missiles launched by Hamas that provided cover for the militants who were running a ground invasion.
It was only when Mesika and his friends began to hear the sound of machine guns firing and Arabic language chatter, that they realized that they may be dealing with militants who were looking to hunt and kill them.
The militants were seen approaching similar shelters to theirs and tossing grenades into them. As they drew closer, Mesikka and the boys told the two women to hide, as they went out to charge at the Hamas agents, diverting their attention.
The plan worked, as the women survived in the shelter for the next six hours to be rescued by the IDF. The men, however, were all killed by gunfire in a heroic act of self-sacrifice.
Mesika, Eli, and Matan were buried side-by-side in Israel.
Addir Mesika's family is 'broken and devastated'
"We all have to live a really large life in his name because that's what he would have wanted. And we have to be meaningful with our lives because he was meaningful with his," said Lotan.
She also mentioned the outpouring of love that the family has received from the community in Israel since the tragedy.
"I have never seen this kind of support in all of the years that Israel has been in existence. And it's beyond the military support. It's the human to human."
Mesika's funeral was attended by around 3000 people.
Addir Mesika had served in a combat engineering unit of the IDF
"He didn't talk a lot about it. It was clandestine for the most part. But he loved life. And he cared very much about being able to be free and to live in a country that prioritized freedom and protected freedom. And he fought for it and stayed in the military for longer than the standard mandatory service. And that's what drove him, really. I think that is his love of life," revealed Lotan.
"I'm going to do my best and his family will do their best to try and not only take care of the immediate needs that Israel has right now, but also try to be a lighthouse for what's to come afterward and help rally the support towards rebuilding and healing."
