Good morning,
Today, I’d like to offer the perspectives of a friend who recently returned from Israel. His observations are heart-rending and enlightening. I offer these not as a defense of Israeli policies, nor as an indictment of Israeli policies. They are offered not to indicate the suffering of Israelis is any greater than that of Palestinians. This is not a political statement. The following is offered simply as emblematic of the human suffering experienced in this war—and any war—by Israelis who were attacked in the most brutal way. I have eliminated some names and done a little editing.
DAY ONE
I flew in today on El Al. The flight was totally full, mostly with volunteers. As we approached Israel, I was curious as to our path of travel. I never recalled approaching the airport from the north of Israel and then turning south. Looking at the map I realized that we had flown over Western Europe and skirted Turkish airspace. Maybe all flights to Israel take that route and it only now dawned on me how careful flights into Israel need to be.
The airport itself was busy but not like it used to be. There were no lines to get through passport control and there was no festive buzz in the air. Once I arrived in the airport, I was immediately taken by the photos of remaining hostages displayed everywhere.
We were met by our guide at the airport. He fought on October 7th and up until yesterday has fought nonstop as a reservist for 100 days. Today is his first day out of uniform. He has been in Khan Younis until yesterday. He was asked to tour us for three days so we could have a commander’s perspective of the war.
Our guide has six teams with 220 soldiers who report to him. Their job is to sweep homes in Khan Yunis. He said that they are finding bombs, guns and “how to” manuals (e.g., how to blow up tanks, how to build bombs) in many houses they are searching. He also spoke as to the complexities of war, such as how they recently found two elderly handicapped Gazans in a house and had to determine how best to evacuate them.
Our first meeting was with the sister-in-law of a hostage from Kibbutz Nachal Oz. That conversation was searing. I can’t stomach repeating the details of the day of his kidnapping yet. She and her husband talked about their grief and utter sense of abandonment by the government. They talked about the lack of official support, including the lack of therapy services and how the hostage families have rallied to help each other. Their 10 year-old son broke down and stormed out of the room.
Our second meeting was with Major General (retired) Tamie Hayman, former Head of IDF Military. He gave us a sobering overview of the battlefield and regional issues. For a career military man, I was taken by now exhausted he appeared. He did say that he felt the love and support of the diaspora community and that even his own son who currently is serving joked that he hasn’t had military food yet because he has received so much food and support from the community.
DAY TWO
Today was an incredibly brutal day. I’m at a loss for words. Many Israelis say the seventh of October will be defining point for the Jewish people. And I understand why.
On the bus ride to the “Gaza Envelope” (which is the area of Israel surrounding Gaza) to meet a survivor of the Nova Music Festival.
Our guide educated us on military lessons learned thus far. The military used to bomb the shafts to the tunnels but realized the shafts are useful for access for the IDF. And there are thousands of them—too many to bomb. By some estimates there are over 5,500 shafts. And new ones can be formed quickly. Now they find the right ones and dig them out.
They have also learned that Hamas uses a network of listeners in the shafts to hear when Israelis are approaching to know when to pop out and attack soldiers.
The IDF also tried flooding the tunnels but learned that the water gets absorbed in the silt and there are doors that stop the water from flooding the tunnels. Most Hamas fighters don’t know what the tunnels look like. Only a few of them know the tunnel network well so that those who are captured can’t map the tunnels. Some informants have been helpful in identifying newer and more important tunnels.
On the way to the Nova Music Festival we stopped in Sderot which is a border town of 25,000 people. The city is a ghost town. Only one third of the residents have returned thus far. We travelled to the festival along the main north south artery, so we saw lots of military vehicles. That road is the main access point to Gaza.
The Gaza envelope is mostly an agricultural area. 60% of agriculture for Israel comes from here. Some workers have returned but most have not. The area attracts lots of volunteers (locals, Americans, etc). and Thai farm workers who are starting to return to work.
We met a survivor of the Nova Music festival. She told us her story of escaping. This was her first time returning to the site. She told a story of utter fear, horror and chaos. She spoke of being shot at while trying to escape and about her friends who died. During the entire time she spoke, we could hear the constant booms from artillery shells and bombs from Gaza. Some were quite loud and jarring. A constant reminder of war.
We met with the Acting Mayor of Shaar. The Mayor of the region was one of the first people killed on October 7th. So many incredible stories but seeing the devastation was brutal. One of the photos shows where Gaza women and children entered the kibbutz after the attacks to steal what was left.
We then met with Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who established commission dealing with crimes against women and children. The UN has refused to even acknowledge the brutality done to women and children. She is working on archiving the horrors. And she will be briefing the White House next week.
DAY THREE
I’m writing this last missive before we take off from Israel. If yesterday was about trauma - the deeply felt trauma that the nation as a whole is experiencing, today it was about resilience. Resilience isn’t uniquely an Israeli trait but the Israelis experience and convey resilience in their own special way.
We started the morning by walking to the Orient Hotel, which is considered one of the nicest hotels in Jerusalem, where some 500 of the kibbutz residents currently are housed. Their emotions were incredibly raw. By say they have lost faith in their government and in the military. But they have also lost faith in humanity. They were “leftists” who believed in peace. That believe is shattered. They helped Gazans over the years. They took Gazans for cancer treatments into Israel with kibbutz buses. And they could not comprehend how those same people wrought havoc on their kibbutz.
One of the leaders said, “Our strength is in our togetherness.” And that togetherness has been shattered, not just for this kibbutz but for the entire nation (200,000 Israelis remain displaced). Everywhere we went, Israelis thanked us for visiting. Our mere presence gave them hope that they are not alone.
We next met with two organizations that JFed LA has partnered several institutions providing educational frameworks for evacuees. The repercussions to Israeli children will be felt for years to come. This impact on children and families is catastrophic.
On our way to Tel Aviv, our guide provided us with more context of the October 7th attacks. Hamas had a clear organized plan of who to kill, who to kidnap and how many people to kidnap. Their goal was to accomplish a psychological defeat and the kidnappings were specifically designed to achieve those goals, down to the mix or people who were taken. By way of example, he spoke of the fact that Thai workers were murdered in front of other Thai workers. The surviving Thai workers were told to “spread the word” that if they returned to Israel, they would meet the same fate. As a result, the Thai government paid to fly out 10,000 Thai workers (out of 28,000) who wanted to leave Israel after the attacks.
Hamas is incentivized to keep the hostages alive, as it’s their insurance policy for survival. However, the IDF is receiving less and less indications that the hostages are alive and it’s likely that a number of them are dead. And that as the IDF closes in, more hostages will be executed. The fate of the hostages also plays a role in whether the current government stands or falls.
We ended the tour at Hostage Square where families of hostages are camping out in order to keep focus on their loved ones. The square hosts vigils, concerts, art exhibitions but mostly it serves as a makeshift place for Israelis to unite in their grief and display their resilience.
There is so much more I want to say. The trauma here runs deep. Every single Israeli knows someone who is serving, is injured, is a hostage or has died.
Have a good day,
Glenn
Thanks for this report from the site. It must be so hard to be there.
Wow. This is heartbreaking, and infuriating - not to diminish the suffering of the people in Gaza, but none of my friends are willing to address the suffering of Israelis. It's as though every Israeli is Netanyahu.