[6][7] On July 20, 2014, Steinberg and six members of the Golani Brigade were riding in an armored personnel carrier in Shuja'iyya, Gaza City, during the Battle of Shuja'iyya in the fourth day of Operation Protective Edge (the 2014 Gaza War), when it was hit by explosives laid by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and the stalled vehicle was hit by a Hamas anti-tank missile.
[1] According to the Israeli government, Steinberg's unit had been attempting to locate Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels in Shuja'iyya that were being used by Hamas.
[12] Hours before the funeral, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry had met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Tel Aviv to negotiate a ceasefire.
[2] Upon hearing that Steinberg was a fan of the New England Patriots, businessman and team owner Robert Kraft wrote a letter to the family offering his condolences.
[13] Americans for Ben-Gurion University established the Max Steinberg Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund, to commemorate his service by providing full scholarships to Ben-Gurion University for IDF combat reservists in perpetuity, with preference going to lone soldiers.