Reservists injured in the ongoing conflict over the past 18 months gathered Monday night for a heartfelt meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, part of a special initiative led by the War Wounded Forum.
Speaking to the group, the Prime Minister made a forceful declaration: “We will conquer Gaza, and our security control will remain there forever. Within days, things are going to happen in Gaza. Things will happen that you haven’t seen before.”
He emphasized that the current campaign has a clearly defined goal. “We didn’t do everything we’ve done in Gaza so far just to return to the starting point. Things have changed; a decision has been made to go all the way. We are very close.”
The forum, which consists of soldiers injured in the fighting, has been outspoken in its demand for a total and decisive win over Hamas, calling on the government to break what they described as a prolonged state of inaction both militarily and politically.
Yotam Asban, a wounded soldier who fought in Gaza, shared the emotional burden many of them carry. “We realized that our war didn’t end on the battlefield. We can’t return to fight; I personally can’t return to fight. We understood that our war didn’t end on the battlefield, and the war continues on another front—fighting here.”
Asban continued, urging national leadership to act with determination. “The forum is making a clear call to the Prime Minister, the cabinet, the political leadership, and the General Staff Forum—for a complete victory in the war, to stop the stagnation, to break out of this back-and-forth, and to demand a full victory, with the understanding that the blood of our friends and our own blood will not be in vain. I, who last week attended six different memorial ceremonies, promised my friends who fell in the same incident in which I was wounded that their blood would not be in vain. For once, may the State of Israel know how to decisively resolve this matter as it should, without folding, without groveling before some organization of a few Hamasniks.”
Lt. Col. (Res.) Tomer Bruck, a commander injured during combat, echoed those sentiments with a strategic focus. “Part of the idea we’re talking about is to reduce the issue of raids. No more raids. We’re supposed to take the matter forward. There’s a very established method in attack and combat—capturing territory, and it’s not shameful to say that: seizing the territory, clearing the area, destroying Hamas’s capabilities, and then, if we need civilian control, that too.”
Yishai Rachamim Levi, a Golani Brigade soldier wounded during the battle at Zikim Beach, stood near the Prime Minister’s Office and spoke with conviction. “We’re here at the entrance to the Prime Minister’s Office with a clear call—that the same heroism that carried us in battle, the same heroism that drives us through the journey of rehabilitation, is the heroism that must not waver in the eyes of decision-makers and must lead the people of Israel to a clear victory over Hamas.”
{Matzav.com Israel}