2024-03 Israel

Israel 32,

April 16, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today I was given the option to go to Siderot. It is small city of 40,000, south of Tel Aviv, 1.5K from Gaza. Given the proximity to the ‘action’ there was no way that I would refuse. I was up at 5:00 and with the help of Waze, arrived in Siderot 1 hour later. The MDA base is much more relaxed and does not usually get the same type of cases that I saw yesterday. I was introduced to the team and made my own breakfast. Everyone was very friendly and asked me numerous questions about Canada. They were excited to hear about my case from yesterday.

The cases that I saw were very routine, mild chest pain, dizziness etc. Over the last few days I went into many houses and apartments. I was very impressed with the buildings. They are very modern with large tiles on the floors and balconies. The furniture looks to be moderately priced and very modern. The places are very well kept. At 1 point during the day we went to a very ultra religious village. It was horrible. The houses were not kept well and there was garbage everywhere. Very disappointing and shameful.

Siderot was terribly struck on Oct 7. They terrorists crossed easily into the city. Over 100 people were killed. There were many wounded patients, too many to treat. There was gunfighting in the streets as the police and IDF tried to respond. The 40,000 residents were evacuated several days later to hotels in Eilat and other places. They could only return to their homes 3 months later. Over 250,000 Israelis still can not return to their homes in the north due to Hezbolah shelling. This is never reported in the western press. They are only concerned with the plight of the Gazans. It makes me wonder who fired the 1st shots on Oct 7, the Palestinians (Hamas) or the Israelis. Many of the Siderot residents suffer from PTSD and will continue to do so for many years. The P-M that I worked with was on duty that day.