Magen David Adom volunteer, EMT, and ambulance driver, Yaakov Aviezri, lives in Netivot. On the morning of Simchat Torah, he awoke to the sound of explosions but was not alarmed, being accustomed to security escalations and the sounds of blasts.
Yaakov served as a first responder in a Magen David Adom ambulance designated to respond to emergency calls in his vicinity.
“Suddenly my phone rang,” he recalls, “101 appeared on the display. I am a religious person who observes Shabbat, but if Magen David Adom calls, it’s likely a matter of Pikuach Nefesh (saving a life). I answered the call, and on the other end, a Magen David Adom dispatcher”
kindly told me that there were several unusual incidents in the area and that she wanted to go over safety procedures with me in case I was called out. These points are passed on to MDA drivers at every escalation in the security situation, a kind of refresher on emergency procedures.”
However, the Magen David Adom woman on the other end of the line did not finish the safety briefing, nor did she dispatch Yaakov for an emergency,
“Her sentence was suddenly cut short, she took a breath and told me: ‘I have an unusual incident coming in near the Netivot Junction. You are being dispatched right now. Go carefully to the junction to understand what’s happening there and report back.’ I immediately jumped out of bed, put on my shoes, and flew to the ambulance, on my way to the incident address. During the drive, I received information about the incident through the system: ‘Hostile terrorist activity, severe injury.’ The dispatch center contacted me via radio and urged me to exercise extreme caution. When I arrived at the address, I saw a first ambulance that had arrived before me, and several police cars next to it. In my heart, I felt calm; the area felt protected, and everything seemed fine. I opened the ambulance door to get out and help treat the wounded—one step, and suddenly heavy fire was shot at us. At that moment, I hadn’t yet truly grasped the meaning of the noises, and I didn’t understand the magnitude of the event. The EMT in the second ambulance shouted and firmly ordered me to take cover; while I was lying on the ground, I finally began to understand: terrorists are shooting at us!”
All this took place within a few seconds. A time that will never return. Many civilians caught in the area were hit by the gunfire. The police officers who were there managed to neutralize the terrorists who were shooting at us. When the terrorists were eliminated, one of the officers signaled for me to get up, take the wounded, and fly with them to the
hospital.”
Yaakov and the crew members in the other Magen David Adom ambulances began to evacuate the casualties.
“I immediately got into the ambulance to start the evacuation, but then a military vehicle arrived and aggressively blocked me, and several soldiers got out, shouting at me: ‘Help! Help!’” Yaakov noticed that the soldiers were removing two wounded people from the vehicle, a young couple, both seriously injured with leg amputations. Yaakov ensured that the tourniquets were properly placed on their legs
and that their bleeding was controlled. He put the man in his ambulance and the woman in the second ambulance, and they were evacuated as quickly as possible to the emergency room. Yaakov describes the way and the thoughts during the dramatic evacuation:
“The scenery along the way was radically different from usual. Burning vehicles on the side of the road. Fields and orchards emitting massive amounts of black smoke. You could barely see the road. And the smell? A smell I will never forget, the smell of death, of burned bodies, but there is no time to think. My goal is clear and I am focused only on it. In my head, only one internal voice echoes, screaming, ‘Save them.’ The Magen David Adom dispatch had already asked the hospital to prepare the trauma room. The whole way, I pleaded with the patients not to fall asleep, not to close their eyes!”
After Yaakov handed the wounded over to the medical staff at Soroka Hospital, he returned to the Netivot station to wash the ambulance of all the blood that was in it, then called his friends and asked them to join his ambulance for further treatments and evacuations. Suddenly a siren sounded; the Netivot Magen David Adom teams entered the protected space at the station, and then a loud explosion was heard. Everyone understood that this was not just another Iron Dome interception. Half a minute later, Yaakov’s team was dispatched to the wounded due to a rocket strike in the city. They headed out to the call:
three family members were hit, a young man with no signs of life and two other men in serious condition, “We immediately performed life-saving actions, stopped the bleeding, and flew toward the hospital, but their condition was very grave! I broke in over the radio and asked the dispatch to send an intensive care team to rendezvous. The rendezvous took place at the Gilat Junction,
with minimal delay. Unfortunately, these patients did not survive,” Yaakov says sadly.
“Ultimately, on that Black Saturday, we evacuated dozens of wounded, with varying degrees of injury, to hospitals, intensive care units, and Magen David Adom helicopters. Police officers, soldiers, and civilians. For me, ‘Black Saturday’ is not just a term. That Black Saturday was the bloodiest day I have ever experienced. Massive amounts of
blood, thick blood, which had already lost its red color. In such quantities, the blood already looked black,” he says,
“In the days following Black Saturday, I continued to maneuver between IDF reserve duty and shifts at Magen David Adom. Between fighting and saving lives. Trying to contribute in every place and moment I have. I share in the grief
of those who lost their loved ones. Elchanan, Orian, and Golan, you are the best team I could have asked for. Thanks to you, we managed to save lives! I wouldn’t have managed for one minute without you. Never forget. There is only one Israel, the People of Israel live, and together we will win. I am proud of my country and Magen David Adom. Proud to save lives.”
