IDF soldier Evyatar Ofri gave a box of cereal to an Arab child searching for food. Photo: Facebook.

A heartwarming image of an Israeli soldier handing a young Arab child food, after finding her rummaging through garbage cans to find something to eat, created a stir on Thursday, drawing the attention of thousands on social media networks.

Corporal Evyatar Ofri, wrote about the encounter on his Facebook page, in Hebrew and English.

Here is how he described the interaction:

Today I met one of the most beautiful little girls I’ve ever seen, an Arab girl about 10 years old. She was looking for some food in a trash can about 500 meters away from where I serve in the desert. I noticed her while I was cleaning our site and took the trash out. She was standing there with her two donkeys, looking for food in the garbage, and having no success. She was wearing rags and a smile, barefoot with wild hair, yet at the same time very cute. I asked her what her name was in Arabic: Ranin.

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Then I asked her to wait a minute (stanna shwayeh), and I went as fast as I could to my room, took a box of my favorite cereal with me, and brought it back to her. The smile that she had on her face made my day, and even with the language barrier we understood each other.

In that moment, this little girl reminded me that behind every religion, race or gender there are people, and human beings that just want to be happy and live peacefully, and we should never forget that being human comes before every conflict.