We are broken, says brother of British Hamas victim

The brother of a British man killed while serving in the Israeli military said his brother "wanted to keep his people safe".

Nathanel Young was killed near the Gaza border when Hamas launched its deadly attack on 7 October.

In his first television interview, Eliot Young told the BBC that the family and friends were "just broken".

Six British citizens were killed in the Hamas attacks, and a further 10 are missing, PM Rishi Sunak said on Monday.

Nathanel, who was 20 when he was killed, went to Israel two years ago to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and "defend his country".

"That was what he always wanted to do," Eliot said. "That's what he was here for. But he ultimately came to live here and raise a family and have a life."

Eliot, who grew up in London but now lives in Israel, said of Nathanel: "He just loved life. He had a lot of respect for my parents."

He said that he was known among his friends as a DJ because of his love of music.

Nathanel's funeral on Monday was interrupted by air raid sirens, with mourners sheltering on the floor.

"It was terrifying," Eliot said. "The thing that went through my head is the fact that, even while I'm trying to say goodbye to my brother, they're trying to kill me."

He added that his parents had travelled from London to Israel to bury their son "and they had to undergo that".

"I don't know exactly how they managed that moment, because I'm sure it was very traumatic for them," he said.

Nathanel's parents were very proud of him, Eliot said, before recounting a story about the last time he saw his brother "exactly a week before he was killed".

"I think if I look back at that day, I remember his infectious smile... this amazing smile," Eliot said. "Whenever I saw him, I always gave him a huge hug. And I will miss that smile. That hug and those laughs that we had together."

When asked how his family will cope with the loss, Eliot said he did not know how to answer. "It's still really raw."

But he said the family had received a lot of support since Nathanel's death, and that "hundreds of people" have visited in the last week - on one day three different places delivered them pizza, "which we then had to find a good home for because we had too much".

On Monday, Mr Sunak said six British people had been killed in the Hamas attack, and 10 others were still missing. He also called for the immediate release of the 199 people taken hostage by Hamas.

"We stand with you, we stand with Israel," the prime minister said to the families of some of the missing watching from the public gallery.