Former Israel Protection Forces Main Sagi Dovev spent 20 years coaching younger troopers in Israel’s navy earlier than retiring two years in the past to start out his personal group. However when he awoke on the morning of October 7, 2023, he knew the whole lot had modified.
“Sirens were everywhere. I knew exactly what was going on because I’m in many WhatsApp groups for professional security,” Dovev advised Fox Information Digital. As he witnessed the atrocities broadcast dwell to social media by Hamas terrorists that day, he knew battle had begun.
On his approach to base, mates began calling to inform him that his troopers had been wounded and have been being despatched to Sheba Medical Heart. Dovev mentioned he instantly circled and headed to the hospital the place he noticed helicopters dropping off dozens of wounded troopers “every few minutes.”
He ended up staying with one among his troopers that day as he was rushed into surgical procedure to have his leg amputated. However Dovev realized he could not go away these troopers behind.
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Photos are displayed on the partitions of a bomb shelter, during which, six months prior, individuals sought refuge earlier than being killed through the lethal October 7 assault on Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, close to Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel, April 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
“When I got called back to base to train at the base, I said, I cannot leave the soldiers here at the hospital. I have to stay here and train them here,” he recalled. “And that’s what I’ve been doing since October 7.”
Dovev, a detailed fight and resilience coach who previously served as a particular operations shut fight head coach within the IDF, has spent over a 12 months now volunteering day and night time at Sheba Hospital, serving to wounded troopers regain their power and sense of goal after being injured within the ongoing battle in Gaza.
“It became even more than a job,” he defined.
Dovev shares inspirational movies on his social media accounts showcasing the unimaginable journeys these younger women and men have gone via to get better not simply their bodily power, however their psychological power, in coping with devastating accidents from the battle.
Former IDF particular unit main Sagi Dovev shares inspirational movies on his social media accounts about coaching and rehabilitating wounded troopers within the IDF. (Sagi Dovev/Instagram)
He shares tales like that of Elisha Medan, who misplaced each of his legs from an explosion that killed 4 of his teammates and critically wounded 4 others.
“But his spirit is high and his resilience is strong. He wants us to stay united (inside and outside Israel) and fight together for the future of Israel. I really hope we are going to see him one day soon, leading this country,” Dovev wrote alongside a video of Medan coaching with Dovev.
Tales like Dor Almog, a younger soldier who was the only real survivor after 21 of his teammates died in a terrorist assault. Dovev shared how Almog went from being hooked as much as a ventilator after the assault final January to studying to stroll once more to coaching in Krav Maga by that summer time.
Or tales like Gaya Zubery’s, the primary feminine soldier severely wounded in Gaza.
“Only a month and a half after completing her training, Gaya was severely injured while rescuing soldiers from a tank hit by an RPG in Saja’iyya. Gaya was injured in both legs and was airlifted in critical condition,” he wrote within the social media submit.
“During five months of rehabilitation, Gaya underwent numerous surgeries but maintained her fighting spirit. Her determination and resilience are truly inspiring. Gaya never wanted to be a hero; she simply wanted to save lives. Even after her injury, she says she would do it all over again,” Dovev mentioned.
“I started teaching them how to fight again. How to walk again, how to fight without a leg. How to punch without a leg. How to control their body to learn their new bodies. And that became a big thing,” Dovev defined to Fox Information Digital.
“This is what made them feel like warriors again. Because one day they are elite fighters or elite professional athletes, and the next day they need someone to help them take a shower or help them go to the bathroom. They have to learn their new bodies, how to become resilient again. And they do,” he continued.
Generally meaning sitting by the beds of those troopers and providing phrases of encouragement whereas they continue to be unconscious.
“We start building it from scratch, from their lowest point,” Dovev mentioned, saying every individual’s journey to rehabilitation can take a number of months to a 12 months’s time.
The proud Israeli feels his calling is to assist these troopers really feel sturdy once more and to share their tales with the world, at the same time as anti-Israel sentiment has unfold throughout the globe because the October 7 assaults.
The battle between Israel and Hamas stays a divisive subject within the U.S., significantly on school campuses, the place protest encampments took over a number of elite universities final spring.
Professional-Palestinian protesters stroll from Columbia College all the way down to Hunter School.
Dovev, who has seen firsthand the prices of battle, provided blunt criticism of scholars collaborating in anti-Israel protests.
“Ignorance is not an excuse,” Dovev mentioned. “If any other group was targeted, no one would say, ‘it’s not a big deal.’ But, this is a big deal.”
“They don’t know the situation,” he mentioned of his interactions with college students at encampments. “They can’t even point to where the river or the sea” is, referring to the antisemitic phrase incessantly chanted at protests.
Dovev sees the battle towards Hamas as a battle to protect not solely his individuals however the freedoms of your entire western world.
These are the American hostages who have been taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023 and held in Gaza. Solely Hersh Goldberg-Polin (Left) has been returned to Israel after the IDF discovered him and different hostages killed by terrorists. Pictured subsequent to Hersh is Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai and Keith Siegel. (Fox Information Photograph)
“This is the only Jewish land and this is what we are fighting for and this is what we are dying for. For this country, for democracy, for the Jewish people, for the western world.”
“Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East,” he mentioned, inviting critics of Israel to come back go to Tel Aviv and see the distinction for themselves. “Yet if they come to Gaza, they will be thrown off the roof in five minutes if they are LGBTQ.”
Dovev warned People, “You don’t want this radicalism to come to the United States. It has already begun. Look at Canada. Look at Europe. We have to stop the spread of Hamas and Hezbollah and ISIS.”
Israel and Hamas as soon as once more seem like inching towards a ceasefire that might wind down the 15-month battle in Gaza and produce house dozens of Israelis held hostage there, the Related Press reported earlier this week.
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Each Israel and Hamas are underneath strain from outgoing President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump to achieve a deal earlier than the Jan. 20 inauguration. However the sides have come shut earlier than, solely to have talks collapse over numerous disagreements.
Final week, Trump was requested concerning the threats he first levied in early December on the Hamas terrorist group that has continued to carry dozens of hostages, seven of whom are American, in Gaza.
Israel says a couple of third of the remaining almost 100 hostages have died, however believes as many as half could possibly be useless, the Related Press reported.
Trump advised reporters that “all hell will break out” if the hostages haven’t been freed by the point he enters workplace.
The Related Press and Fox Information’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
