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Martin Gelb expected his daughter to go to university when she graduated from high school in Richmond Hill, Ont., last year. There were several offers from Canadian universities. But instead she joined the Israeli Defence Forces.

And now Netta, 19, is one of at least a handful of Canadian citizens serving in various roles with the IDF amid a two-week war that has killed more than 600 Palestinians and 29 Israelis; and Mr. Gelb has become part of an online support group for Canadian parents of “lone soldiers” in Israel — referred to as such because they have no immediate family in the region.

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“There was really not much we could do to stop [her],” said Mr. Gelb. “It’s very difficult to explain it to people … how she could make that decision, and go off and do it.

“At that age, you can’t really tell them anything.”

When Netta — Israeli-born, with citizenship in Canada where she has lived since age seven — left for Israel in July 2013 along with at least 15 other Canadians, Mr. Gelb knew that another Israeli conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip was “inevitable.” But he didn’t think it would happen while his daughter was in combat duty in the region.