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The Forgotten Wounded of Israel
Israeli soldiers operate at the Shajaiya district of Gaza city amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yossi Zeliger
JNS.org – I recently had the privilege of meeting with the head of Soroka Medical Center’s intensive-care unit and its chief of ophthalmology. I wanted to assess the situation of Israel’s injured soldiers, as well as the burden placed on the Beersheva-based hospital as the closest tier-three trauma hospital to the Gaza frontline. The morning I visited, every bed in the intensive-care unit but one was filled with a wounded soldier.
During my time at Soroka, my perspective changed from that of a journalist to that of a surgeon. I was briefed in detail about two of the most severely wounded soldiers in the ICU. These soldiers are the forgotten and untold stories of the Israel-Hamas war. Their number dwarfs those of the number killed in action.
One soldier had severe damage to his lower extremities and multisystem organ failure from an infection ravaging his body. His condition was very precarious. I was there just before he was to undergo an additional surgery. The surgery took place in the ICU because the young man was too unstable to be moved to the operating room. I was in awe of the compassion of the doctors, nurses, administrators and hospital staff.
Another soldier with a sutured 12-inch incision over his head to relieve brain swelling had already lost one eye and was paralyzed on one side. My heart sank when I met his father, who embraced the chief of ophthalmology for a long time, knowing that the doctors were doing everything they could but that his son was in dire straits. Then I was introduced to the soldier’s fiancée and my heart sank even further. The soldier was scheduled for another surgery in an attempt to save his one remaining eye.
I was next introduced to a medical retinal specialist tasked with coordinating eye care for soldiers in the ICU and those arriving injured from the field. The woman was exhausted but sustained by her unrelenting compassion. She had become something like a mother to the wounded soldiers and their grieving families.
I asked the chief of ophthalmology what they needed. Perhaps volunteer ophthalmic surgeons? He said they needed a vitreoretinal surgeon. I contacted a friend in the US who is part of a doctors’ network organized to help Israel in its time of need. In just a few days, I was able to send the names of more than 10 American surgeons who were willing to leave their jobs to volunteer their services.
This article is written from the heart. It is far from my usual objective analysis of intelligence, security and defense issues. I write it because these stories need to be told. I am hopeful that Americans will come to recognize the sacrifice Israelis are paying with the blood of their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters to sustain the Jewish nation.
The resilience and unity I witnessed at Soroka and throughout the country as I traveled from the north to the south, to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, was awe-inspiring. My fellow citizens in America are unaware of the sacrifices made by every Israeli. Nor do they understand that all of them are just one degree of separation from someone injured or killed.
One family I know had their 69-year-old father called up, along with his son, daughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law. It is so hard for Americans, most of whom have never served in the armed forces, to relate to this—or to understand that Israelis are literally fighting for their homeland.
I hope that the wounded will not be forgotten and that, when their story is told, it will motivate people of goodwill to consider helping a vital cause: Soroka Medical Center and Israel’s other frontline hospitals and care facilities.
The post The Forgotten Wounded of Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.