"Alright, so here's the deal. A bastard sniper put me in his sights. I'm okay, recovering from minor surgery," Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Itamar Eitam, commander of the 6828th Battalion, updated on Sunday on Facebook.
Eitam was moderately wounded on Saturday in an encounter with terrorists in Jabaliya, and he requests prayers from the public for his soldier who was seriously wounded in the same incident.
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Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Itamar Eitam, commander of the 6828th Battalion
(Photo: Yoav Keren)
"Pray for the recovery of Tomer, my soldier who was seriously injured," Eitam wrote. He also referred to the timing of his injury, on Lag B'Omer, and wrote that "Bar Kokhba coined the slogan, 'For the freedom of Israel.' On Independence Day, I reminded my soldiers the oath we swore at the end of basic training: 'I commit to dedicate all my strength and even my life to defend the homeland and the freedom of Israel.'"
Even now, after several months of fighting in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, he says: "We are not retreating, not confused and not wavering. Hopefully, we will all hold onto the fighting spirit in the field. Until the victory for the freedom of Israel in every aspect."
A few weeks ago, he told Ynet while in Jabaliya that this is already the third combat tour in the Strip for his unit. Eitam is the son of former government minister, Brigadier General (res.) Effi Eitam. "My battalion was drafted on October 7 and we fought for three months in the center of the Strip, in Zeitoun and in Shijaiyah," Eitam recounted. "After three months, we left. We had another short round in Khan Younis, and now we're here to complete the mission we started."
"It will take more time," he added. "We need determination, we need patience, and we must not despair or falter. Hamas must be destroyed. It's not boom and it's over. We need to dismantle the threat to the southern communities. That's why the IDF exists. If it doesn't know how to do that, it has no right to exist."