When Israel went to war in the Gaza Strip in the wake of Hamas's murderous rampage on October 7, thousands of reserve soldiers were called up for military duty from around the country, adding to the army's regular force.
Since then, over 200 soldiers have been killed, and hundreds are in hospitals and rehabilitation centers around Israel being treated for wounds, many of them life-changing.
One such soldier is Avihu, a reserve combat engineer from the central town of Rosh Ha'ayin serving in the Nahal Brigade, who was badly wounded in an ambush that killed his commanding officer and wounded several of his teammates.
The Media Line spoke with Avihu at Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem about the events of that day, which he says only make him and other soldiers more resilient and determined.
TML: Can you talk a little bit about what happened that day, what you did?
Avihu: Yes, our unit got the mission to check an area. We had information about it, about some weapons and ammunition and some explosives of the enemy. And then we started to move with the unit, and when the first squad found in one of the buildings all of the ammunition, me and my squad moved forward to this building and an IED blew up on us. Two of the guys were wounded in their limbs. The commander was killed.
I was badly wounded. I didn’t understand it on the field, but then all of the fire started [with] all the shooting from all over. The combat medics treated me on-site and took me to an area to put me on a helipad. And from the helipad [I was transported] here to the hospital.
TML: Where did this happen? When you were hurt, where were you exactly? What place?
Avihu: Yes, in the middle of the Gaza Strip. It’s south of Jabaliya. This is the place that I can say [I was wounded].
TML: First of all, a speedy recovery, that’s most important. Talk to me a little bit about what you went through when you came to the hospital, and what you thought happened, and what really happened.
Avihu: I got from the chopper here. I landed on the roof, and it took me very fast to the trauma room. They started to check all of my body. I saw the markings of the medics where the entrances [were of the shrapnel] where I was wounded, the entry places. They took me to an MRI and CT machine to see where is the damage inside.
There were very nice people [who treated me], and [a doctor] even brought me his phone to call my sister to relax her so that she will not be panicked from someone she didn’t know that would need to tell her that I’m wounded. After they finished examining me, they took me straight to the OR/operating room.
TML: What did they treat you for?
Avihu: They did the surgery in my shoulder and in my stomach. They cut one of my arteries to the leg and the tendons. They did surgery for a few hours, and after that, I was in the ICU for, I think, like, 36 hours. Something like this.
TML: How are you feeling now?
Avihu: Much, much better. Much better. They even talked when I moved from the ICU to this department, that I would need to stay here for two weeks. And already a week later, they say that I am ready to go home. So, it’s much better.
TML: How did you feel? You have friends who are still in the war. What thoughts come to your mind right now? You’re here. They’re there. You lost someone close to you.
Avihu: Yes, it’s very hard to be here and knowing my friends [are] still fighting with less people, with less soldiers, because we were wounded and Dvir [Maj. David Pima] was killed, but I know that also that this event made them stronger, to fight harder, to be more, to be more resilient, and give them more power to fight on.
TML: What do you do when you’re not in the army?
Avihu: I’m working at Ben Gurion Airport in the ground operations department.
TML: And when you were called up that day to be in milium, in reserves, what did you expect? Did you have any expectations at all in terms of the war?
Avihu: I understood that it was going to be very big and very long because when I was 18, I was enlisted by law [and] when I was 20, I also took part in Operation Protective Edge. So, this was very short back then, and now it’s [a] very long, very massive attack. Like, we should do like back then. Right now, we are doing the job that we should have done back then in 2014.
TML: Do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?
Avihu: I hope so. I hope so. From day to day it’s, let’s say, the sky is getting clearer. At the start, there were a lot of rumors [that] it’s going to be one month, two months, three months. Now, we are trying to ask ourselves how much it’s going to be, and we are mostly trying to deal with if we actually finished all of the missions that we can do.
TML: Do you feel the soldiers of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, and all the young men out there really working on behalf of the State of Israel are going to accomplish that mission?
Avihu: Yes. Everybody in the field wants to stay. Everybody says it’s long, it’s hard, we have families back home, but we have to finish this mission, this war, and do it once and for all.
TML: When the world looks at what’s happened here in Israel, and they see soldiers like you who have been wounded, what is your message to them? What do you want to say?
Avihu: That’s one of our jobs, to get wounded as a soldier, and we are proud to take a hit for our country. And they should give us their support wherever they can and see the big picture, the true and bad, sad. The good country [Israel], the democratic country that wants to bless life, and the terror organization[s] that bless death and mass destruction and just want to kill and die.
Take the good side, understand both of them. Look at the big picture and understand.
TML: What did you miss the most when you were in Gaza?
Avihu: My dog.
TML: What’s your dog’s name?
Avihu: Mocha.
TML: And have you seen Mocha?
Avihu: Yes, I have [had] a few visits at home during the war, and the first time I get into my sister’s house, because she is watching [over] her while I am fighting, she’s jumping and happy, and waving her tail. It’s a blessing every time.
TML: Perfect. Thank you. Thank you very much, and I hope you heal easily and successfully.
Avihu: Thank you very much.