Since Oct. 7, Maj. H., a reserve company commander in the 5th Brigade, has completed nearly 550 days of reserve duty.
Last July, he was wounded during operations in Gaza when an explosive device detonated near his force in Rafah. Less than two months after leaving the hospital, he was back in uniform. About two weeks ago, he was wounded again, this time when an explosive drone struck the compound where his force was staying in Lebanon.
Now recovering at home, he says he is determined to return to service. “The fighters and commanders in the company are an inseparable part of my family,” H. said. “That’s how we live and that’s how we fight.”
H., 38, was called up to reserve duty on the morning of Oct. 7. Since then, he has taken part in operations including in northern Gaza and the Netzarim Corridor in the center of the enclave. He later attended a company commanders course and in March 2025 was given command of the company.
A day before he was due to be released from a reserve rotation, an explosive device was set off against his force during an operation in Rafah. Sgt. Maj. Vladimir “Vova” Loza was killed at the scene, and H. and another soldier were wounded.
“I was trapped under the rubble of the building,” H. recalled. “In those seconds, I was mainly thinking about Vova. I realized he was dead. I was afraid they would abduct him, so I asked the force to find him.”
A unit from the army’s search and rescue corps arrived and managed to free H. only after about two hours under the rubble. He was evacuated by helicopter to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv with fractured ribs and arms, crush injuries and nerve damage. He was hospitalized in the orthopedic ward for two weeks and then underwent another two and a half months of rehabilitation in the hospital.
“Throughout the whole process, I had two main goals: to go back to changing diapers and to go back to holding a weapon,” H. said.
He and his wife, Rotem, have three children, ages 2, 5 and 9.
Less than two months after being discharged from the hospital, and despite lingering injuries, H. returned to uniform.
“I thought about how I would call my wife again in the middle of the night and tell her I’d been wounded. And after I realized I wasn’t going to die, I thought that this time she definitely wouldn’t let me go back.”
“I don’t see myself as a hero because I was wounded,” he said. “Anyone who gets up and puts their personal life aside when the country and the people need them is brave and heroic. Injury is just a matter of statistics.”
After returning to service in January, his company was deployed to the northern sector.
With the start of Operation Roaring Lion in Iran, H.’s company, which had been expected to complete its reserve deployment, was notified that its service would be extended. Shortly before the planned end of the rotation, a drone exploded in the area where the force was stationed, about half a meter from H., peppering his body with shrapnel.
“I thought about how I would call my wife again in the middle of the night and tell her I’d been wounded,” he said. “And after I realized I wasn’t going to die, I thought that this time she definitely wouldn’t let me go back.”
He was quickly evacuated to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. “I’m on alert for sirens, so I jumped up quickly when the phone rang,” Rotem said. “He said he was OK and asked whether he should make a video so I could see he was alive. When I saw him bandaged and covered in blood, I started crying. I couldn’t believe this was happening again.”
H. was later transferred to Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. After complex surgery on his right eye to remove shrapnel and transplant a cornea, he was hospitalized for recovery and was discharged at the end of last week to continue rehabilitation at home.
Alongside the account of his injuries, the couple said they also wanted to highlight the burden carried by reservists’ families. “We are proud of what we do, but I think it is very clear that the army needs help,” H. said. “I’m not dealing with where it will come from or how they will do it.”
Rotem added: “To hear that large budgets were transferred this week to the ultra-Orthodox instead of to the wounded, to reservists or to their wives, is very frustrating.”
Despite everything, and even after being wounded for the second time, H. does not hesitate when asked whether he will return to service. “As long as I’m alive and walking on this earth, I will continue serving in the reserves,” he said. “It is an inseparable part of who I am.”