Friends and relatives of N., a 20-year-old soldier from Netanya, have gathered in recent days in Room 2 of the plastic surgery ward at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. In the bed beside him lies his commander, also identified only as N., who was seriously wounded when an explosive drone struck during an operation in Lebanon involving Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion.
“It was a moment I will probably never forget,” said A., N.’s mother. “The phone rang and my son was on the line. He told me, ‘Mom, I’m okay, I’m at Rambam Hospital.’”
She said her son, the family’s eldest, had taken part in many missions with Givati troops before the brigade entered Lebanon. “Of course there are fears. This whole issue of drones and UAVs is something impossible to grasp. Almost every day there are serious incidents in the Lebanon sector,” she said. “But when I see N. in his hospital room with his friends trying to lift his spirits, it encourages me.”
Friends who came to visit described the incident while the commander was away for medical tests. “Without N., the commander, the situation would have been much worse,” one said. “The soldiers who were wounded were trying to cover the Namer APC with a protective net. The drone circling above came very close to the Givati force, and then the commander fired at it and hit it.”
The drone fell near the force, wounding troops who were later evacuated by helicopter to Rambam, but the soldier said the commander’s action prevented a far greater disaster.
N.’s friends have already hung the battalion flag beside his hospital bed. His mother said with pride and emotion: “The commander basically saved my son and the rest of the wounded soldiers. What happened to them was a great miracle. Their commander showed tremendous resourcefulness. He fired at the drone, looked up at the sky and understood that hitting it had prevented a much more serious strike on the force.”
N. is listed in moderate condition, with injuries to his arm and leg and several shrapnel wounds.
“Understand what a great miracle happened to him and the rest of the force,” his mother said. “But despite this miracle, an urgent solution must be found for this problem. How many soldiers have already been killed by these drones? It is terrible.”