New Delhi: Driving through the roads of southern Israel has left Dr Gedalya Fendel unable to find solace in sleep at night. The haunting image of bodies strewn along roads, of the three bodies charred to a crisp he once saw, will forever linger in his memory, he told ThePrint.
The doctor, a general practitioner, has been involved in relief works ever since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on 7 October.
Speaking to ThePrint from southern Israel’s Shuva town in an online video interview, Fendel described the scenes he has witnessed — of people searching for their loved ones among piles of bodies, “sniffing to differentiate” between those dead or alive and injured.
The doctor also recalled an instance where two hungry children, who had lost their parents in the Hamas attack, were offered some food but were too traumatised to eat or even sit still in perception of the threat looming over them.
“The holocaust was (documented) in black and white, and there was no documentation in colour, so we had to imagine it. But these are pictures that I have seen with my own eyes. I do not need to imagine it anymore. It is terrible,” said Fendel.
While talking about the relief supplies he had stocked in his house to aid the needy, Fendel paused for a brief moment to say, “Did you hear that? (That) was a very strong one.” He was referring to the loud noise of an air strike in the background.
He quickly turned his camera and pointed towards the Gaza strip. “Do you see the smoke? There is bombing all the time. If it was night, you could see the missiles,” he said, pointing into the distance.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel Saturday launched a large-scale counter-offensive — ‘Swords of Iron’ — on Gaza, the region controlled by Hamas since 2007, including a series of air strikes targeted at multiple locations linked to the Palestinian militant outfit.
To Fendel, the question of whether Hamas’ surprise attack was a security failure, or inevitable, holds little value, as he dubs the Palestinian militant group as the “new ISIS (Islamic State)”.
“There are a lot of good people in Gaza, but they are controlled by bad people. These are people who want to kill us only because we are Jews, and they do not care even if it is a pregnant woman. My heart is shaking as I describe this to you,” he says.
The doctor further shared pictures and video footage he had captured on the streets since the attack. A closer look showed bodies and charred remains thrown on the roads along with burnt and damaged vehicles.
Documenting this, he said, is important in order to show people how bad the on-ground situation is. “You see black smoke everywhere, it stinks outside,” he added.
According to media reports, the conflict has seen more than 2,300 deaths on both sides in five days.
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‘Every country should support Israel & let them do the job’
Despite the extent of the violence, Fendel believes that relations between Jews and Muslims have not turned hostile and described them as friends that will stay so, to ThePrint.
“I have Muslim friends, I have colleagues that are Muslim, they are good people and that does not change,” he said, explaining that “the purpose of Israel is not to kill Arabs and Muslims or people in Gaza”.
“The purpose is to take out the bad from there. When all of this is done, maybe the good can live by the good and the Middle East will look different,” said Fendel.
Fendel asserted that every country should “support Israel and let them do the job”, but added that it was not just for Israel “but also for Gaza citizens”.
“It is for the Gaza citizens who come here and work, including in my garden. We make coffee and sit down for lunch together. They do not have a good life, but if they let us do the job, they will have a better life. Then the money will go for medication and food, and not for building bombs,” he said.
While describing the Hamas attack as a big surprise, Fendel noted that within a short time, citizens came together to donate supplies, food and clothes, so much so that soldiers pleaded that they already had enough.
“This is the Israeli community. When it is required, we all become one,” said Fendel.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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