More than a week into the Israel-Hamas war, the focus of the world is on Gaza, where 199 civilians are being held hostage by Hamas. It has been the target of Israeli air strikes in recent days, and it is set to be the site of intense fighting in the coming days, with an Israeli ground invasion believed to be imminent.
Today in The Free Press, we offer two perspectives on Gaza. One comes from Jacob Katz, an American who guarded the border with Gaza when he served in the IDF—and who has returned to Israel this week. The other is from Amjad Abukwaik, a Palestinian-American who grew up in Gaza and now lives in New Jersey—and who lost nine family members last week. These are their stories.
Jacob Katz is a 25-year-old former IDF soldier from Florida who returned to Israel this week. Here, he tells of his time with the IDF from 2018 to 2019, where he patrolled the Gaza border at the same spot where Hamas terrorists bulldozed the fence and invaded Israel on October 7.
Amjad Abukwaik, 54, was born in Gaza. Today he lives in Paterson, New Jersey, where he owns a pharmacy. Here, he reflects on his life growing up as a Gazan before moving to the U.S. at 19, and why took his son back last year to visit.
For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, read Douglas J. Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy under George W. Bush, on Hamas’s macabre strategy to maximize Palestinian deaths.
And for more on the reality of life in Gaza before this war, we recommend the Center for Peace Communications’ “Whispered in Gaza” series, which was published earlier this year.
Become a Free Press subscriber today:
I love this publication. It's the only news source that I trust. Thanks for all of your hard work.
People were upset by dead Jewish babies, so Hamas (oh, sorry, Islamic Jihadists) killed Palestinians and cried "Look, we have dead babies too! Sick.