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This Israeli Doctor Survived October 7; He Spent a Lifetime Helping Israelis and Palestinians
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
Ron Lobel spent his career at the Barzilai Medical Center in Israel. After narrowly escaping the tragedy that befell many Israelis on October 7th, he volunteered to treat victims of the Gaza war.
What makes the situation even more personal for Dr. Lobel is that he trained Palestinian doctors until 2008, and helped in Gaza between 1988 and 1994, where he oversaw the building of an ICU at a hospital in Khan Younis.
Lobel’s home in Netiv Ha’Asara is 300 meters from the Gaza border. Lobel usually rushes to the hospital when he hears attacks near the border — which happen sporadically when one lives in the vicinity of the Strip.
But on the fateful day of October 7, his wife stopped him from getting into his car and driving towards the hospital .
“That saved my life,” he said.
Lobel and his wife stayed inside their bomb shelter throughout the ordeal.
“I had no time to be afraid, “ he exclaimed. “I had to save lives [even on the telephone].”
Miraculously, Hamas terrorists did not enter his dwelling, and he waited inside for 13 hours — helping the hospital by coordinating with them over the phone.
It was a very “intense ordeal,” he said. Many of his close friends died in the Hamas massacre.
Lobel grew up in Tel Aviv, and finished his medical studies at the University of Bologna in 1979. He then returned to Israel, and began working at Barzilai. Today he is officially retired, but stays on as a consultant.
Being the child of Holocaust survivors from Czechoslovakia and Romania, Lobel notes that Israel was built by people who came to a new nation with a lot of trauma.
“There is something called post-traumatic breakdown, but there is also post-traumatic growth, and Israel is a symbol of this,” he said.
During his many years in the profession, Lobel trained many Palestinian doctors — including in Gaza, until the mid 200s. Since then, he has trained doctors from the West Bank.
He told me that one of the biggest highlights of his career was the Ethiopian aliyah, where some of the new Olim came with severe medical problems.
He said that many of those he saved have now made good lives for themselves in Israel, and that some of those young Ethiopian Jews became doctors themselves, treating others and carrying forth the spirit of helping that Lobel believes in so strongly.
Lobel says there are many doctors of Arab descent in Israel, and believes that the proportion is much higher than Israel ever gets credit for.
Lobel is also known for taking care of a prayer site on the hospital grounds that was once the resting place for Husayn ibn Ali, grandson and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mohammed. Lobel shows Muslim pilgrims from around the world the holy site, and he said that members of the Bohra group, a Shia Muslim sect who mostly live in India, especially like to visit.
The original mosque on the site was destroyed in the 1948 War of Independence. It remained forgotten for a while. But in 1980, a Bohra group from Egypt visited the site and after much petitioning by their religious chief, a new site was erected within the hospital premises.
In 2020, the site was damaged by vandals, but the Bohra community in India paid for its restoration. Lobel appreciated how the architects incorporated the Star of David into the Islamic architecture.
Lobel said that the hospital has treated several patients of the various wars with Hamas in Gaza over the years, including the current one.
After his decades of experience in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, he still believes that co-existence is the path to peace, and hopes that a day will finally come when the wars will finally end.
Avi Kumar is a Holocaust historian/journalist from Sri Lanka. He has lived in many countries and speaks 11 languages. He has written about a variety of topics in publications worldwide.
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Brooklyn Nets Select Israeli Basketball Players Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf in NBA Draft
The opening tip between the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, at Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 13, 2020. Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
In a landmark night for Israeli basketball, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf were selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets, marking the first time two Israeli players have been drafted in the same year.
Saraf, a 19-year-old guard known for his explosive athleticism and creative playmaking, was taken with the 26th pick. A standout with Maccabi Rishon LeZion and a rising star on Israel’s youth national teams, Saraf gained international attention with his electrifying scoring and commanding court presence.
With the 27th pick, the Nets selected 7-foot center Danny Wolf out of the University of Michigan. Wolf, who holds dual US-Israeli citizenship and represented Israel at the U-20 level, brings a versatile skill set, including sharp passing, perimeter shooting, and a strong feel for the game. After his name was called, Wolf grew emotional in an on-air interview, crediting his family for helping him reach the moment.
“I have the two greatest brothers in the world; I have an unbelievable sister who I love,” Wolf said. “They all helped me get to where I am today, and they’re going to help me get to where I am going to go in this league.”
The historic double-pick adds to the growing wave of Israeli presence on the NBA stage, led by Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who just completed a breakout 2024–25 season. After being traded to Portland last summer, Avdija thrived as a starter, averaging 16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. In March alone, he posted 23.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, including two triple-doubles.
“I don’t think I’ve played like this before … I knew I had it in me. But I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just playing. I’m just free,” Avdija told reporters in March
With Saraf and Wolf joining Avdija, Israel’s basketball pipeline has reached unprecedented visibility. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the moment “a national celebration for sports and youth,” and Israeli sports commentators widely hailed the night as “historic.”
Both Saraf and Wolf are expected to suit up for the Nets’ Summer League team in July. As the two rookies begin their NBA journey, they join a growing generation of Israeli athletes proving that their game belongs on basketball’s biggest stage.
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Iran Denies Any Meeting With US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran currently has no plan to meet with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday in an interview on state TV, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the US were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the US attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The US and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely geared toward civilian use.
Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of Iran’s nuclear program, which he said would inform Iran’s future diplomatic stance.
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Ireland Becomes First European Nation to Advance Ban on Trade With Israeli Settlements
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Ireland has become the first European nation to push forward legislation banning trade with Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — an effort officials say is meant “to address the horrifying situation” in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris announced that the legislation has already been approved by the government and will now move to the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for pre-legislative scrutiny.
“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Harris said during a press conference.
The Irish diplomat also told reporters he hopes the “real benefit” of the legislation will be to encourage other countries to follow suit, “because it is important that every country uses every lever at its disposal.”
Today Ireland becomes the first country in Europe to bring forward legislation to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza.
Every country must pull every lever at its disposal. pic.twitter.com/Z4RTjqntEY— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) June 24, 2025
Joining a growing number of EU member states aiming to curb Israel’s defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Ireland’s decision comes after a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.
The ICJ ruled that third countries must avoid trade or investment that supports “the illegal situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Once implemented, the law will criminalize the importation of goods from Israeli settlements into Ireland, empowering customs officials to inspect, seize, and confiscate any such shipments.
“The situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern,” Harris said. “I have made it consistently clear that this government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long-term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”
“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal and threaten the viability of the two-state solution,” the Irish diplomat continued. “This is the longstanding position of the European Union and our international partners. Furthermore, this is the clear position under international law.”
Harris also urged the EU to comply with the ICJ’s ruling by taking a more decisive and “adequate response” regarding imports from Israeli settlements.
“This is an issue that I will continue to press at EU level, and I reiterated my call for concrete proposals from the European Commission at the Foreign Affairs Council this week,” he said.
Last week, Ireland and eight other EU member states — Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden — called on the European Commission to draft proposals for how EU countries can halt trade and imports with Israeli settlements, in line with obligations set out by the ICJ.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the latest move by European countries, calling it “shameful” and a misguided attempt to undermine Israel while it faces “existential” threats from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas.
“It is regrettable that even when Israel is fighting an existential threat which is in Europe’s vital interest — there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession,” the top Israeli diplomat said in a post on X.
It is regrettable that even when Israel fighting an existential threat which is in Europe vital interest – there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession.
Shameful! https://t.co/lxm9qm8sM1— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 19, 2025
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