To begin I’ll give a quick explanation of the conflict going on in the Middle East. On October 7th, which was not just any day but a Jewish Sabbath, multiple Hamas and Palestinian armed groups launched multiple air and land attacks that day. They breached multiple borders and killed and abducted many Israeli defense forces. The numbers of people left dead are 7,000+ ,culminating from both sides from an Israeli public officer. This is not anything new either, Israel and Hamas have had conflicts and violence since 1948. Hamas is a Sunni Islamist Organization which essentially means they believe that Israel is an occupying power and that they need freedom from their rule. It is unclear how much global involvement will occur in the days to come, but right now many countries including the US have sent aid to Israel.
Now in the midst of all this conflict and death it is hard to find the bright sides but a few heroic stories have emerged. One being that of the Israeli couple who saved their children by hiding them until they could be saved. Hamas attacked the family of Itay and Hadar Berdichevsky, they had two 10 month old children and hid them in a shelter. Sadly, they were attacked and shot to death, but 12 hours after that the children were found and rescued by Israeli soldiers.
In addition, a 25 year old woman Inbar Lieberman led a group to fight off and defend themselves against the Hamas attackers. She saved a kibbutz ( a communal settlement in Israel, typically a farm ) with 12 other people. All together they brought down 25 men, Inbar bringing down 5 of them herself. They fought off Hamas until Israeli soldiers came to help later.
Currently aid is difficult to get, because Israel is attempting to block resources from Gaza and all Hamas territories. But there are innocent lives being lost on both sides and so the UN and Egypt have been attempting to provide assistance to Gaza and Palestinians because they lack the resources Israel has. The people assisting Palestine are the Egyptian Red Crescent, World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, and the Mercy Corps. Other organizations are assisting Israel such as The Women’s Zionist Organization of America and The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
The tough thing about working in the medical field during this war is that the ambulances and hospitals have been targeted and attacked multiple times. The organizations providing aid have been asking for restraint, as it is immoral to be attacking those who cannot defend themselves. Thankfully, many brave doctors and nurses have been staying strong and working through the turmoil.
Many countries have begun evacuating their citizens out of Israel, the UK recently set up a plane to take British nationals back to their country. The US has provided low involvement but has claimed support of Israel. They are attempting to support Israel with restraint as they don’t want to hurt any other citizens of any countries.
Among all this horror, a light-hearted story emerged of a sweet lady named Rachel Adari. She distracted the Hamas attackers who broke into her home by offering them cookies and coffee and hospitality. As they bought time, their sons, who are both police officers, had time to arrive on the scene. Their sons were able to save them.
Next we had Noam Tibon, whose son was a journalist trapped in their home back in Kibbutz. It is important to note that Tibon was a retired general, and so he had a lot of fight and experience in him. On his journey to save his son he helped direct many injured and confused soldiers and people to safety away from the attack’s sources. He even gathered a group of men who were aimless and without a mission, to help him. He brought down the Hamas attackers around his home and finally was reunited with his son and family.
As you can see, even amongst the horrid aspects of war and devastation, heroes rise above and help their community. Hopefully this conflict will end soon and peacefully, but we will just have to wait and support from the side as we let these events unfold.
