Israeli Voices Surviving & Overcoming

On the morning of October 7, my phone rang. It was my brother, Elad. His voice was tense: “Come now. We need help.” Our home, Moshav Ein Habesor—just three miles from Gaza—was under attack. I had no time to think. I grabbed my keys and ran out, leaving behind my wife and our three children. I didn’t know if I would ever see them again. 

Weapons were scarce, so I ran toward Elad with nothing but a rock in my hand. By the time I reached him, bullets were flying everywhere. He was part of our moshav’s security team, which had recently expanded from 12 to 78 members due to a series of car thefts. That decision turned out to be lifesaving. But at that moment, all I could focus on was my brother. 

And then, he was hit.

I had no choice—I had to get him out. I managed to get him into my car and raced toward a back road, away from the terrorists, leading to Soroka Hospital. But, when I reached the main road, I froze. About 30 Hamas terrorists in pickup trucks and motorcycles were shooting at anything that moved. The road was littered with destroyed cars and bodies. 

And then they saw us. Gunfire erupted. Elad was hit again. I had seconds to react—I spun the car around and somehow made it back to the moshav entrance, where an ambulance was waiting.

The driver showed incredible courage and drove straight through the chaos to get Elad to the hospital.

Elad survived. Our moshav, armed with only a few weapons, held the terrorists back. That morning changed everything. But, one thing is clear: living three miles from Gaza has made us more resilient than ever. We will rebuild, and we will be even stronger.

-Yftach Gepner

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I’m 27 years old from Tel Aviv, married to Hila. In the Reserves, I serve in the 55th Brigade (Paratroopers). During the war, we had two rounds of reserve duty, during the second of which I was injured.

The first round started in the Gaza Envelope and lasted about 160 days. We began fighting in Kfar Aza, then moved to the north, and finished with 60 days in Gaza (Khan Yunis).

The second round began at BAF Elyakim, a training base in the north that serves as a staging area for Lebanon. After five days at the training base, a UAV struck the base, injuring me and another soldier from my company. I was wounded by shrapnel in both legs and in my hand. 

I was evacuated to Rambam Hospital, where they removed the shrapnel in the first surgery. Two weeks later, it turned out that the shrapnel in my hand had torn my ulnar nerve, which required nerve reconstruction surgery and a long rehabilitation process. As of now, I have been in rehabilitation for three months, with full recovery expected to take between 1 and 1 ½ years.

Although the recovery process is long, I take comfort in knowing that I was lucky and that my condition is good considering the circumstances. I wouldn’t change a thing in hindsight, and I am proud of the work my comrades and I did for the people of Israel in their most difficult hours. 

-Nadav Eliakim.