Maj. Amir (Meir) Skoury, 31, a Sayeret Matkal soldier, from Jerusalem, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Be’eri. Amir and his family were staying with his parents ...

Israel has a well-proven expertise in hostage rescue, which it trains for intensively. Set up in 1957, its secretive Sayeret Matkal unit is broadly similar to Britain's SAS or America's Delta Force.

Currently, around 70 synagogues across Israel benefit from regular Mishmar patrols and heightened security measures.