The two soldiers battled together for a month and a half in Gaza.
By Vered Weiss
Two IDF reservists who served together in Gaza realized that they had another close connection–their wives shared the same room in a maternity ward.
Eliya Rosen and Daniel Novogrotzky were drafted on October 7th into Company A of Brigade 55’s Battalion 28.
The two men fought for a month and a half in Khan Younis.
Fast-forward to this Sunday when the two reservists met unexpectedly at the hospital because their wives gave birth together in the same room.
In addition to this welcome reunion, there are also moving stories of hope and miraculous events among IDF soldiers in Gaza.
An IDF officer in Gaza discovered a wooden sign with a family name on it belonging to an Israeli soldier whose family was forced to leave the area 19 years ago during disengagement.
The sign said “Yarhi Family” and the officer asked a friend he knew who also grew up in the region.
The sign is being sent back to the Yarhi family who at first couldn’t believe that the sign was still in the Gaza Strip after all of these years.
Amiel Yarhi, who is 27, was only eight years old when his family were forced to leave their home in Netzarim.
“I cried with excitement and was in shock. It was almost unreal.”
“I hadn’t seen this sign for almost 19 years, and it took me a moment to process. It’s a throwback to a home that we loved very much.”
There are also incredible stories of survival–including testimonies of soldiers miraculously recovering from injuries that are usually fatal.
Major Itai and his troops entered a Hamas stronghold in Gaza and he was the first to encounter a terrorist sniper who fired directly at his face.
Major Itai said he remembered feeling a “blow to his face” which was a bullet entering his brain.
Amazingly, the officer still gave commands to his troops and didn’t realize he was bleeding unit he was treated by a medic.
Even though the medics understood the wound was serious, no one realized the bullet was lodged in Major Itai’s brain until he arrived at the hospital.
With impaired vision in one eye, Major Itai expressed his wish to return and fight in Gaza and also to be reunited at home with his wife and young son.
Another Givati brigade soldier, Sergeant Oren Dovid, also survived a nearly fatal wound in Gaza.
A bullet entered Oren Dovid’s body, hit his lung, pierced through the membrane of his heart, and exited through the left atrium.
Although he was unconscious for some time, Oren Dovid’s life was spared after a successful surgery by Dr. Leonid Saternik, head of the Sheba Medical Center’s heart department.
Oren Dovid has also expressed the wish to return to his troops in Gaza and continue to fight.
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