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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.