The IDF has been taking special care and protecting an infirm 72-year-old Gazan woman, Nahala, who was left behind when her family members left for the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
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In footage obtained by Israel Hayom, it is clear that the soldiers, with the army physician Gedalya Pandel, have been going out of their way in order to ensure she is safe despite remaining in a battle zone in the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza.
The footage also shows rare images of Palestinians leaving the area in an orderly fashion, carrying improvised white flags to make it clear they are not terrorists, and they interact with the military and help the soldiers bring a wooden wagon so that the woman could be evacuated to the south.
She was left behind by her family who evacuated before the battles began, and since then, Pandel and his colleagues, who took control of the area, have been providing her with food, blankets, and assistance.
"The family members left her in front of us when she couldn't move forward," Pandel told Israel Hayom in a conversation from Gaza. "For two days, we brought her blankets, a mattress, and food. We tried to evacuate her to the Red Crescent to transfer her to the hospital – without success. We even talked a bit. She told me her name is Nahala; I told her my name is Gedalya, which means God is great," he recounted.
Video: IDF forces bring a wood wagon to help stranded Gazan woman / No credit
"When we organized another humanitarian mission, I found this wooded wagon you see in the video and tied myself to it to lead her to a place from which she could climb and join the evacuees. I saw people passing by her while she sat on the floor, ignoring her, so we forced them to take her with them," he describes the impossible reality of fighting in a civilian area.
The elderly Palestinian woman felt secure next to the soldiers who supported her all that time.
When asked how he feels, as a resident of a border community that experienced the horrors of October 7 and knows that this woman likely cheered the terrorists, he responded, "It's not easy, but it comes naturally. I guess she was happy and dancing on the same day they murdered our people, but we are not them; I felt sorry for the people I saw leaving their homes with their children," he said.
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