First-hand view

🔴 I’ve just retuned from serving as a reservist infantryman in Gaza for a second time. Here are my ten takeaways from the experience👇

— Michael Starr (@StarrJpost) December 1, 2024

You can read his article in The Jerusalem Post. Here's the beginning of it ...

An IDF reservist's top ten takeaways after returning from Gaza

On Sunday, I returned to The Jerusalem Post after being drafted as an IDF reservist for almost 80 days for my second tour of duty in Gaza since the October 7 massacre. My anecdotal experience as an infantryman and perspective as a journalist in civilian life have given me a unique perspective on war issues, familiar and unexplored alike.

These ten takeaways from someone who has been in the mud of the battlefield should be considered by policymakers and citizens for whom much of the information about the war is second-hand or hearsay.

1. The IDF is winning, and needs to be allowed to win

Compared to their operations during my first tour at the end of 2023, there is a sense that Hamas is collapsing. The terrorist organization once fielded ambush cells that conducted frequent hit-and-run anti-tank missile attacks and ambushes from a wide network of bunkers and tunnels for a guerilla defense-in-depth strategy ....