Aug 22, 2014 - Daniel Tragerman, 4, of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, was killed when a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip exploded outside the family’s home. He was killed by shrapnel from the explosion.

The Tragerman family had been packing their bags and were about to leave the kibbutz, located 2 km. from the Gaza border, for a second time, only a few days after they had returned after spending most of the war further north with friends and family. A mortar hit a car parked outside the family house and sent shrapnel flying. Daniel was mortally wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Daniel's mother Gila related: "The children were playing in a tent inside the house, and from the moment of the siren to the explosion only three seconds passed. We didn’t have time to get the children and go into the protected room.” Daniel was very responsible about the warnings and the sirens, and whenever there was an alert he knew just what to do. Once everyone was inside the safe room he would say, "Now we’re all safe.” This time he had only three seconds from the siren to the explosion, and didn't make it.

Gila eulogized her son:"I find solace in the fact that you were a loved and happy child until your last minute. You are the love of my life, the perfect child, every parent’s dream: smart, sensitive, ahead of his age group and beautiful." He loved to draw, and last Purim wore a costume of his favorite superhero, Spiderman.

Daniel was photographed just a few weeks earlier (August 7) at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, at a fun day organized by the staff for children from the south.

Photo: Courtesy Office of the President

Daniel Tragerman was buried in the Hevel Shalom Cemetery in the Eshkol region. He is survived by his parents, Doron and Gila, his sister Yuval, 3, and brother Uri, 6 months.