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Recalling the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel — almost six months in the past now — IDF soldier Shalom Shitrit, 20, stood on one leg with crutches and addressed over 1,200 folks at The Armon Hotel & Conference in Stamford, Connecticut, on March 2, 2024, to reveal what occurred to him.
“I had no concept that the following couple of minutes had been going to change my life, the lives of the folks of Israel, and the life of each Jew,” he advised the assembled crowd, in half.
He went on to describe a horrific sequence of occasions — and the way he is lastly arrived at a spot of hope as he strikes ahead with out so many others whose lives had been cruelly taken by terrorists.
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Shitrit advised Fox News Digital in a few cellphone interviews that almost dropping his life on Oct. 7 has strengthened his religion. He spoke from Sheba Medical Center close to Tel Aviv in Israel, the place he is nonetheless present process remedy after dropping his leg in the attack.
He mentioned he grew up in a spiritual Jewish house, however for the final three years, he’d not been retaining the Shabbat. After Oct. 7, he felt a nearer connection to God and began observing Shabbat once more, he mentioned.
Shalom Shitrit, proven right here in two completely different pictures, advised Fox News Digital about Oct. 7, 2023, “I had no idea that the next few minutes were going to change my life, the lives of the people of Israel, and the life of every Jew.” Today, he works laborious to encourage others and share hope and religion. (Courtesy Shalom Shitrit)
“If you live in emunah (Hebrew for ‘faith’), it’s helping you … Any time you don’t [have answers] to questions … I say to myself, it’s for the good,” he mentioned. “I really believe in that. I live that.”
Shitrit described what it was like to be stationed in southern Israel, simply 200 meters from the Gaza border, on that fateful day. (In cellphone interviews, he was assisted by a good friend who translated components of his feedback.)
The identify of Shitrit’s brigade in English is “the protectors of Kibbutz Be’eri,” a close-knit agricultural group in the Negev desert generally known as a peace kibbutz.
Lying in a pool of blood, he cupped his fingers and smeared blood throughout his face and clothes so it might seem as if he’d been killed.
It was house to — as only one instance — Vivian Silver, a 74-year-old grandmother who habitually drove sick Palestinians from Gaza to Jerusalem so they may obtain applicable medical care. Hamas terrorists murdered her and over 130 different Be’eri residents.
They additionally kidnapped 29 of the roughly 1,108 individuals who lived there, in accordance to The Times of Israel — lots of whom devoted their lives to serving to Palestinians, as Silver did.
All advised, about 1,200 folks had been murdered in Israel that day, in accordance to a number of studies. Kibbutz Be’eri was one of many locations most gravely affected.
Shitrit had been patrolling exterior his base that morning, the place 25 different troopers had been stationed, he mentioned. At 6:10 a.m., he mentioned, he began receiving textual content messages a couple of potential terror attack in Israel, and half an hour later, he heard rockets going off overhead.
He and his staff discovered shelter in a well-recognized security space alongside the border.
Shalom Shitrit is proven at proper with a good friend, Noam Shahm, each in the IDF. (Courtesy Shalom Shitrit)
Shitrit’s commander, Tomer Barak, pointed to the place he noticed a terrorist. Shitrit opened his mortar and ran towards the world.
He advised Fox News Digital that as he turned a nook, he got here face to face with terrorists.
“I saw two terrorists right in front of my face, one meter between us. In that moment, I just opened fire. I killed them both, not before one of them managed to shoot my right leg.”
He saved a decent grip on his gun your complete time, peering by the magnifier.
Shitrit dropped to the bottom and referred to as out to his associates for assist, hoping to get a tourniquet — however they had been all preventing in battle. About an hour and a half later, he mentioned, he heard shouts in Arabic and gunshots.
Shitrit remembered saying to himself, “If I stay, the terrorists [might] find me and [will] want to kill me.”
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So, mendacity in a pool of blood, he cupped his fingers and smeared blood throughout his face and clothes so it might seem as if he’d been killed.
He saved a decent grip on his gun your complete time, peering by the magnifier. Shitrit shot and killed an unsuspecting terrorist as he walked previous him.
‘Bleeding nonstop’
Getting up on one leg, Shitrit hid by the aspect of a wall. When he noticed a grenade hurling towards his commander, Barak, and a fellow soldier, Sagiv Cohen, he screamed to warn them — however with the gunfire going off, they couldn’t escape. Only Cohen lived by that explosion.
The two males helped one another tie tourniquets and took bullets from their associates’ weapons who had been killed.
Fourteen troopers in Shitrit’s unit, who had been all as shut as brothers, had been killed — and 5, together with Shitrit and Cohen, had been injured, Shitrit advised Fox News Digital.
Shitrit was one among 11 survivors.
Cohen and Shitrit shielded their eyes from shrapnel as they crawled underneath a military car. Shitrit remembered how the sand felt like bullets in opposition to his pores and skin. He advised Fox News Digital, “I just closed my eyes. I was bleeding nonstop. I said my goodbyes.”
From beneath the automotive, Cohen saved their lives by fatally capturing two terrorists.
Shitrit and Cohen helped one another tie tourniquets and took bullets from their associates’ weapons who had been killed. They screamed for assist over a radio. About half an hour later, an armed car arrived.
Shalom Shitrit in the hospital after he was rescued on Oct. 7, 2023. At one level, amid the gun battles that day, he “said his goodbyes.” (Shalom Shitrit)
Profusely bleeding however nonetheless acutely aware, Shitrit remembered entering into the tank along with his good friend. Shortly afterward, he misplaced consciousness — for a full week.
Shitrit wakened closely sedated at Soroka Medical Center, the place he described experiencing horrific signs of post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD). He saved imagining there have been terrorists close to him, and he was so traumatized he couldn’t sleep for 4 days.
Shitrit began hallucinating due to the treatment he was taking. He requested to be taken off it when he was transferred to Sheba Medical Center — and was in a position to sleep by the evening once more.
His leg was amputated — he underwent six surgical procedures, he mentioned.
“You see from their faces that [the released hostages] experienced grave trauma … A lot of them have signs of PTSD. They can’t sit calmly; they’re agitated.”
At Sheba, Shitrit met with a number of the launched hostages who had been kidnapped from the Supernova music competition, together with 21-year-old French-Israeli lady Mia Schem, who was shot in her arm, and Maya Regev, 21, and her brother, Itay Regev, 19, who had been each shot in their legs.
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(Of the roughly 250 individuals who had been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Israel on Oct. 7, greater than 40 had been music competition attendees — principally younger folks in their teenagers and 20s who had been on the Supernova music competition, in accordance to a number of studies.)
Shitrit noticed that whereas the hostages appeared robust, they had been possible struggling emotionally.
Shalom Shitrit advised Fox News Digital concerning the Americans who’re visiting Israel to assist the Jewish folks by volunteering and different humanitarian actions, “I want to say thank you … We see American people coming all the way to Israel all the time, and it’s very, very heartwarming.” (Shalom Shitrit)
He mentioned, “They radiate strength, but you can see that they went through something … They want to speak about it in the media and [share] their stories about what Hamas did, but you see from their faces that they experienced grave trauma … A lot of them have signs of PTSD. They can’t sit calmly; they’re agitated.”
He added, “We need to be there for these people.”
For his personal rehabilitative remedy, Shitrit goes to a therapy middle for wounded IDF troopers in Kiryat Ono, Israel, which is related to the nonprofit group Belev Echad — which implies “One Heart” in Hebrew. Belev Echad’s headquarters are in New York, however its location in Israel is a therapeutic refuge for IDF troopers who’re recovering from bodily and emotional trauma.
‘Biggest form of therapy’
Rabbi Uriel Vigler, founding father of Bel Echad, mentioned the troopers primarily come to the home to be in the corporate of one another as a result of “it’s like the biggest form of therapy that there is.”
When a soldier seems to be into the eyes of a fellow warrior, “only they can understand each other’s pain.”
He mentioned that when a soldier seems to be into the eyes of a fellow warrior, “only they can understand each other’s pain, only they can understand what they have gone through — and [only they can know] the scenes of devastation they have seen together.”
Since Oct. 7, there are about 12,000 wounded troopers, 1,500 of whom are being cared for at Belev Echad, the rabbi mentioned.
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Eight therapy rooms, akin to one for occupational remedy and one other for bodily rehabilitation, had been rapidly constructed to accommodate their wants. The facility can also be outfitted with a health club, martial arts room, and pool for hydrotherapy periods, Vigler mentioned.
The middle offers meals in addition to bodily, non secular and psychological assist. Staff members at Belev Echad, together with a coach who was additionally shot in his legs, are wounded troopers themselves, to allow them to relate to the sufferers they look after on a private degree, he additionally mentioned.
Shalom Shitrit had to have his proper leg amputated after the accidents he suffered throughout the terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023 in opposition to Israel. (Courtesy Shalom Shitrit)
Despite the large ache the troopers are in, “they’re happy to be alive, so happy to be with us,” mentioned Vigler. “You don’t get depressed spending time with them. You actually get inspired.”
Shitrit incessantly visits with fellow troopers at Shaba and Belev Echad.
The younger soldier began an initiative referred to as Kamim Mehadash, which implies “rise again” in Hebrew. He arranges for luggage of requirements, like meals, shampoo and headphones, to be introduced to troopers on military bases.
Shitrit additionally speaks to different survivors in Israel to encourage uplift them.
“You could hear a pin drop while he spoke. People were crying, and then they were cheering.”
He’s additionally flown to the U.S. to give speeches in New York City, Boston, Connecticut and elsewhere.
Recently, he advised the viewers in Stamford, Connecticut, that living by the tragedy of Oct. 7 taught him the significance of unity, particularly in mild of the political and non secular divisions in Israel earlier than the conflict.
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“Despite all the pain that I endured, no matter how scary it was to be an inch from death, I am honored to give of myself, and to sacrifice my right leg for the sake of unity among the Jewish people,” he mentioned.
“We are all one … Hug your Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Robin Meyerson, founder and director of the Arizona chapter of Project Inspire, a Jewish nonprofit group that invited Shitrit to communicate in Connecticut, mentioned, “I was in the audience … You could hear a pin drop while he spoke. People were crying, and then they were cheering.”
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Regarding the Americans who help Israel from afar, and people who go to Israel as nicely to volunteer, Shitrit advised Fox News Digital, “I want to say thank you … We see American people coming all the way to Israel all the time, and it’s very, very heartwarming.”
He added, “I don’t have words.”
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