By: Sergeant Major Ben Kerido
Our convoy of Israel Defense Force hummers approached the torn-open security fence. All of Gaza spread out before us. Dust swirled around us as we pushed forward. Gaza was a wasteland of bombed out buildings and the drifting stench of dead bodies. On a good day the infrastructure of Gaza rarely exceeded the status of a third world country – except of course, for the luxurious homes and even mansions of Hamas officers who grifted off of humanitarian aid money with impunity. But all of that had been reduced to utter desolation.
As the so called “Zionist war machine” pushed forward, our IDF special forces battalion had been tasked to secure key areas of conquered territory in [censored for security/Gaza] and my mobile infantry and reconnaissance company likewise did so and otherwise supported the efforts. Hamas snipers, mortar crews, and RPG teams still abounded in Gaza, and their ability to move through their tunnel system to other areas increased the threat level.
Our platoon set up temporary defensive positions and an additional operational outpost in a half-destroyed home once inhabited by a Hamas officer and his family. It’s hard to describe the inside of these Hamas residences that double as operation compounds. By the time the Israel jets, tanks, and first wave of ground troops get through with them, the damage is severe. The house is seemingly a normal residence, but then we find the weapons alongside normal life items:
Bullets and baby bottles.
Kalishnakov rifles and cribs.
Bombs and baby diapers.
It reminds me of a Hollywood movie set for a film depicting the home of a drug lord or crime boss. On the one hand the house seems like the residence of a normal family. But then just beneath the surface we find that the structure doubles as a headquarters for villany and filled with instruments of evil. And of course, the Palestinian Arab propaganda machine commonly known as “Pallywood” loves to take photos of one side of the baby nursery with half blown walls and destroyed toys.
And then they scream and cry as they share the photos with the whole world, denouncing the “evil Zionist oppressor.” Little does the world know that just on the other side of the nursery (quite literally) sit stocks of military-grade weapons and explosives. And the same is true for the schools, mosques, and hospitals of Gaza.
There is a quote attributed to former Prime Minister Golda Meir that states: “There will be peace in the Middle East when the Arabs love their own children more than they hate ours.” As I wander through bombed out schools and home nurseries filled with weapons and ammunition, I realize yet again how distinctively profound and accurate that statement really is.
And this is certainly not my first combat operation in the Gaza Strip and the Yehudah v’ Shomron region (also known as the West Bank). Drawing from my own experiences and the experiences of others, I incorporated much of what really happens in the Gaza Strip and during IDF operations in our full-length novel, The American Holocaust: Early Tomorrow Morning. It is also known by its free promotional title, Let’s Go, Brandon! – The Novel.
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