Soldiers bringing Napi back home
Yasmin Raanan, who works as an animal caretaker in Kibbutz Be'eri, survived Hamas’ attack on October 7 after terrorists spent hours in her home. As an animal lover, she had raised her pet parrot, named Napi, short for Napoleon, for eight years and was certain she had lost him on that Saturday — until a recent turn of events brought their joyful reunion.
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"We had five terrorists inside our house, armed with guns and grenades," the 56-year-old Raanan recounted. "They spoke Arabic, and I understand the language." At 6:00 p.m. that evening, soldiers from the Maglan Commando unit arrived at the scene and captured the terrorists alive.
"The only thing I noticed when I left the protected room was that Napi was missing. Neither he nor his cage was there. Then I found the cage next to my house, strewn on the lawn. I was sure they had killed Napi," Raanan said, explaining that she had come to terms with Napi's death.
However, an unexpected turn of events then changed everything. "A few days ago, my nephew said that someone had posted a picture of himself with a parrot," Raanan said. "I looked at the picture, and said I thought it was Napi."
At the same time, she was contacted by a pet store clerk from Ashkelon, who told her that a soldier had come to him with a similar parrot. "The soldier who posted the picture on Facebook and the soldier who came to the store were both called Saar," Raanan said. "What are the chances that two soldiers who don't know each other will adopt a parrot similar to my Napi? Then the store owner sent me a picture, and I saw it really was Napi."
The first soldier was from Kibbutz Yagur, and said the parrot was on his shoulder for three days, even entering tunnels in Gaza alongside with him. "It's an amazing story," Raanan said. "The parrot knocked on his helmet and didn't leave him."
The second soldier mentioned that Napi landed on him during an operation in the northern Gaza Strip. "Two days ago, the soldiers came to see me. I've never cried so much in my life. Napi was thin and frail, but alive," Raanan said. Today, Raanan resides in Nevatim, located near Be'er Sheva, where she’s recovering with Napi.