7/10, Saturday, 9:39 AM, I'm at home with the little ones, following the horrors in the news and preparing to make breakfast.
Suddenly the phone rings, and it's my ex-wife. We haven't spoken in years. I immediately knew something was wrong. "Arik, the child is at a party in the south, they're shooting at them, she's hiding there. We've tried to talk to security forces, army, police, security coordinators, everyone, but no one is willing to enter the area to get her out, and they told us not to get close because all the roads are blocked and they're not letting anyone through!!"
I understand from her that it's the youngest of the older ones, Lilach. I end the call, try to call her, she doesn't answer. I try again, she doesn't answer. I call my ex-wife back, tell her she's not answering me. She said she spoke to her earlier, there are terrorists around her shooting, and she can't talk so they won't hear her. Try WhatsApp, she says. I send a WhatsApp message, no response. I'm already stressed, I call my ex-wife again, "If Lilach contacts you, just tell her to contact me, that's all. She isn't answering!!!"
"What Lilach? It's Yasmin!" she says. I immediately call, and my daughter Yasmin answers, terrified. "Dad, they're shooting at us here, we ran away, we left the car and ran into the field, you have to come!"
"Turn on real-time location and send it to me, I'm getting ready quickly and leaving."
I quickly run through all the problems in my head and look for solutions. How do I leave the little ones alone at home? I call their mother, she's not in the area. I run quickly to the neighbors, they're all religious, I knock on the doors, no answer, probably stressed from the situation. I go back home, brief the little ones, don't be stressed and don't watch the news!!!
They heard the news from the morning, I talked to them about the situation and reassured them that everything is okay. I explained that Yasmin is there and I have to go get her and that I trust them. Without hesitation, they said, "Dad, drive fast, don't worry, we'll be fine."
Second problem, if the roads are blocked, how will I get to her? Luckily, I'm a volunteer at MDA (Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service). I immediately dressed in MDA uniforms, also put on a reflective vest, took a medic bag just in case to have in the car, some water bottles, and left.
Highway 6, I'm in a Renault Fluence, speeding towards the south, and cars with reserve soldiers are overtaking me, seems like they're driving at 200 km/h.
I pass Kiryat Gat and then it starts to sink in, I'm in a war zone. Everything around is smoke trails from the fields. Not even ten minutes pass and there are explosions– I realize that there was probably an interception or a rocket falling near the road. I quickly think what to do in such a situation and realize I don't really have the ability to know where it will fall. I close the window and turn on music to stay focused on the road without distractions. I talk to the Yasmin again, send her my real-time location too, maybe it will calm her that I'm approaching the area.
I know the area from my military service. I knew that if I came through Ashkelon or Sderot, most likely I would indeed have trouble passing. I decide to go through the villages, which is a good decision– thanks to the MDA uniform I passed two checkpoints easily, they didn't even stop to ask. I continue driving for about another half hour, arrive at the area behind the villages, look at the map again, it tells me 26 more minutes to reach her. I start driving off-road, lots of paths, splits,
I drive in one direction, the path suddenly turns in another direction. I'm good at navigation, I decided not to rely on the map, I drove towards the symbol of the child that appears.
After twenty minutes of driving off-road towards Gaza, I reach a crossroads and the GPS decided to go on vacation. I'm in the middle of orchards, surrounded by a huge area of wadis. Where do I drive from here? I stop in an open area, get out of the car, call her, "Yasmini, I don't know where to continue from here, there are many paths and the GPS isn't working. According to the last time it caught, I'm not far from you, but there are wadis and orchards here that I don't know how to cross."
"Dad, are you in a gray car?? Yes!!! Dad, get in the car, drive back a bit so we know it's really you." I get in the car, drive backwards. "Dad, it's you!!!! she shouts, We see you!!"
I search for them anxiously on the horizon but I don't see anything. "We're moving towards you, you'll see us soon." I look in front of me, about 400 meters away I see a group running on a path next to the orchards. I quickly get in the car, drive towards them, my daughter broke down crying in my arms. Ten children in total managed to reach me, all dehydrated. Lucky I brought drinks.
She's crying and I put her in the car, give her water and urge everyone to get in, quickly. There are explosions all around and we're in the heart of the area, Iron Dome doesn't intercept in open areas, we need to get out of there fast. Three sit beside me in the front seat, five in the back seat, and two more sat in the trunk. We drive back, one of the children is on the phone with the security coordinator of a village, describing the car to him and telling him we're heading his way. Luckily, I have a photographic memory, I remembered exactly the paths I took and within about fifteen minutes we arrived at Moshav Melilot where the security coordinator was waiting and escorted us to a family in the village who welcomed us with a warm hug, food, drinks, and everything. Amazing people!!!
I looked for a way to find you again to say thank you, I couldn't, so if you see this post, thousands of thanks!!!
All the children are sitting on the sidewalk, explosions are still going off, the children turn to me begging me to go back into the field to bring more of their friends, and I, in tears, tell them I'm sorry, "Luck played in our favor hugely today, I'm not sure I'll have such luck again, I came to save my child and the mission is not yet complete, I must get her out of here, it's not safe here either!! The terrorists have infiltrated all the settlements in the area and could reach here too!!!"
I'm broken inside, but I pull myself together, take the child and her partner, tell them to get in the car, ask if anyone wants to go with us to the center, two more join. On the way back, checkpoints every few kilometers, holes in Highway 6 from rockets falling. Thank God, I finally drop off one guy at a house in Tel Aviv, another in Herzliya, and then I take my daughter with her boyfriend to Herzliya. They don't even have a key to the house because they left the keys in the car when they were shot at, so we broke into the house.
I was blessed with my child and she has a special partner. From what I heard from her, he functioned in an awe-inspiring way, he acted exactly as needed and got them out to the field and didn't give up on her and kept her walking in the field for almost five hours until I arrived.
And to those who don't believe in miracles, talk to me!!
