The mother of Noa Lazar, the 18-year-old IDF soldier killed in the shooting attack in Jerusalem on Saturday, struggles to process the tragic death of her daughter, a brave female combat soldier.
"She fulfilled her role in the best way possible, she really loved it," Karin Lazar said on Thursday evening.
"She was never worried or scared. In other words, she felt very protected and didn't have any fear," she continued. "Recently the situation got worse and I was a little worried. She told me 'don't worry, I'm protected.' I didn't sleep at night, but she wasn't afraid."
Noa's mom described how much her daughter loved her job as a combat soldier. "She was very tough, but she had a lot of accomplishments in the raids and it gave her great strength, it really motivated her. She was supposed to get sent to be a fitness trainer, what she really wanted. She was supposed to get that in November.
"Its important to me that people just know who Noa was, that she really loved what she did, she fulfilled her role with devotion up until her last minute."
Karin shared that she and her daughter had a special relationship, and told of the last time they spent time together - on Yom Kippur. "She made a meal and a delicious cake. We went outside together, we were together all the time, all of Yom Kippur. This was the last time I saw her.
"We talked about everything. We were really good friends. We would talk almost every day."
She recalled the moment she was told there was a terror attack in the place were her daughter was positioned: "I knew it was her. She didn't answer, and she always answers."
The manhunt after the Palestinian terrorist Uday Tamimi is still ongoing, with heavy focus being put on the Shuafat refugee camp, due to his escape there.
The shooting attack occurred on Saturday, at around 9 p.m., when Tamimi arrived at the crossing and fired at soldiers in the inspection booths before escaping to the nearby Shuafat refugee camp.
Sergeant Lazar and a body guard were injured and evacuated to the Hadassa Medical Center in Jerusalem. Another IDF soldier suffered minor injuries in her leg from shrapnel and was treated in the field.