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‘Fauda’ star shares chilling firsthand account of surviving Gaza blast, mourning fallen comrades.
By Sveta Listratov, TPS
Israeli actor Idan Amedi, best known for starring in the hit Netflix show ‘Fauda,’ recounted to reporters on Thursday his experience fighting in Gaza and the blast that had him hospitalized for over two weeks.
“We are dealing with an enemy that doesn’t care about anything. This is a just war and the enemy we are facing is beyond Hamas, we have found weapons in schools, different institutions and private homes. The world needs to know that,” said Amedi, who was released from the Sheba Medical Center.
The 35-year-old Amedi was a reservist in the Combat Engineering Corps. An explosion in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed six soldiers and injured Amedi and several other reservists on January 9.
With his hands bandaged and struggling with pain, Amedi, recalled the moments of the blast.
“In this specific operation, there were three teams of us that were supposed to destroy several tunnel shafts. Those tunnels are many kilometers deep and the weapons that were found there, it all had news value and that’s why we brought the reporters to document it. Another weapons warehouse was found nearby and we were ordered to destroy it as well,” he recalled.
“We were set to go, and I made sure where all my fighters were and then suddenly the explosion happened. The first thought was that a terrorist had initiated an explosion. But the initial investigation shows something else. I will look into it soon.”
The blast may have been the result of an accident by the soldiers and the Israel Defense Forces is investigating.
“It’s moments like these that you only think how much you want to live,” Amedi said. “After the explosion as I landed on the ground, I signaled with my hand that I was alive so that my teammates would come and take care of me. I was laying there thinking about home, about my family, and how much I wanted to return to them alive.”
Amedi plays agent Sagi Tzur in the drama about an elite undercover team trying to track down a notorious Palestinian terrorist. He joined the cast in 2017.
Asked how his rehabilitation would impact the filming of Fauda, which was renewed for its fifth season, Amedi said, “The creators are already working to adapt the script to our current reality. I will be back in the series with God’s help next season.”
Amedi, who is of Kurdish descent, is also a popular singer and has recorded five albums since 2011. His most popular song, “A Warrior’s Pain,” about the post-traumatic experiences of a soldier returning from war, was one of Israel’s most popular songs in 2010.
He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and two children.
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