YERUCHAM, Israel—Ephraim Jackman, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier, was deployed in the Gaza Strip when he heard that a friend since childhood had been killed in battle in the enclave.

       Jackman arranged to return home for a ceremony to mark his friend’s death, arriving straight from Gaza in grimy combat fatigues. It was the last time Jackman’s parents saw him. He was killed a few days later back in Gaza while trying to recover the body of a fellow soldier during a firefight with Hamas militants.

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