When Lieutenant Yonatan Moseri, a 23-year-old officer from Ashkelon serving in the Givati Brigade, was airlifted from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Israel after being injured in a clash with terrorists, it was déjà vu for him.
"The first time was in Khan Yunis, two weeks after our entry," he recalls. "My unit hit an explosive device on the route, and four were injured."
After being discharged from the hospital, Yonatan underwent two months of home rehabilitation. "I was mainly injured in the head and face, with cuts and burns. The very next day, I looked in the mirror and decided to stick to my plan and go to the company commanders' course. It was my dream, and I decided that nothing would stop me." He never considered leaving the army. "I knew what was important to me and that I would continue with it."
He returned to the army but did not re-enter Gaza. "The feeling was very difficult," he says. "You feel disconnected, helpless, like you're not doing enough. I stayed in close contact with the guys inside, but you don't feel part of what's happening." After a brief entry into Jabalia, Yonatan returned to the course and later rejoined the Tomer Battalion in the Givati Brigade, which is composed of soldiers who are or were ultra-Orthodox. "I'm usually very stubborn, and when I decide something, it's very hard to move me," he says about himself. "On Sunday evening, I entered, and by Monday, I was already meeting my soldiers. It was a closure of a circle. The same soldiers who evacuated me the previous time, I returned to command."
"On Wednesday afternoon, we identified a terrorist cell approaching our building. I called out to Roy (Captain Roy Miller, who fell in battle) to join me, and we went out on patrol knowing we were going to encounter the enemy. After a firefight, the terrorist managed to hit me. I was injured, and they put a tourniquet on me. I stayed inside the house until someone came to manage the event. At some point, I evacuated myself on foot outside, from where they put me on an evacuation APC and helicopter. I landed at Sourasky Medical Center with injuries to both hands, two bullets in my left hand, and shrapnel in my neck and hands."
This week, Yonatan was discharged from the hospital, and despite being injured twice and losing his good friend Roy, he plans to return to the fight. "I have no privilege to give up and say that because I was injured, I won’t go back. The burden of proof is on me," he explains. "I am committed to my fighters no matter the circumstances. I trust myself and know that I am doing everything I can for my soldiers and for myself."
Dr. Tamir Pritsch, head of the hand surgery unit in the orthopedic division at Sourasky Medical Center, commented: "Lieutenant Yonatan Moseri was admitted with shrapnel in his forearm and a crushed fracture in one of his fingers. During surgery, we removed the shrapnel. He had large pieces in places we thought could interfere with nearby nerve structures and tendons. We treated the fractures and continue monitoring him."