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Last July 40,000 soldiers were called up by Israel for action in Operation Protective Edge. Among them were four women.

The four, all paramedics, were the only women to serve in the war in Gaza.

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Staff Sgt. Yonat Daskal, 23, from Petach Tikvah completed her regular 3.5 years of army service with the Nahal Brigade this spring. As is customary, Staff Sgt. Daskal planned to fly to South America after her army service.

Just after arriving in Mexico, she received disturbing news that “something big” was happening in Israel. In her own words: “I called the brigade’s medical officer and heard from him that they were starting to draft reservists. My trip was supposed to last for another month and I wasn’t sure what to do. Once I understood from my friends that this was going to be serious, I said to myself that throughout my regular service I prepared for the real thing and there was no way I would be abroad when it happened.”

Yonat Daskal landed at Ben Gurion International Airport one day after the IDF’s ground troops entered Gaza, and joined the Nahal troops in the South the next day.

“I was placed with a team of combat troops. We went in by foot and I marched with them; I had all my medical equipment on me: a helmet, a ceramic vest, and my rifle. The march wasn’t easy. There were moments when I found myself desperately gasping for breath.”

That first night, Staff Sergeant Yonat Daskal lay on the sand in Gaza and looked at the sky. Thank G-d, the ten wounded soldiers she had treated over the last few hours had all finally been evacuated to hospitals within Israel. She was overwhelmed.

“I looked up at the stars and tried to understand what had happened to me,” she mused. “I told myself that today is Friday and I should have been with my family for Kiddush, or even in Mexico, but instead I’m in Gaza, in the reserves, and maybe that’s what was supposed to happen. Maybe I needed to be there to give my abilities to the wounded, guys from my battalion, eighteen-year-old soldiers who shouldn’t be in my care. What have they had time to do in their life?”

Staff Sgt. Noam Dan is 22 years old, from Dimona. During the operation, she entered

Gaza with soldiers in the armored corps, with whom she serves.

Staff Sgt. Tal Shahar, a 22-year-old from Tel Adashim, serves in the undercover operations unit of the Israeli Border Police. During Operation Protective Edge, she was ordered to join Maglan, an Israeli Special Forces unit with whom she entered the Gaza Strip.

Sgt. Tamar Bar-Ilan, a 21-year-old from Haifa, an armored corps paramedic, entered the Gaza Strip with members of her battalion and was with them inside a tank for 12 days. “I was the only women among the men, but it didn’t bother me,” she admitted. “We’ve been serving together for two years and know each other well. As a paramedic, I’m used to be being the female minority, but this time it was different. I’d never been in a tank that had anti-tank missiles fired at it and on enemy’s territory.

“At first I didn’t leave the tank for five consecutive days. My greatest fear was that something would happen to the battalion’s soldiers and that I would have to take care of them. The thought of not being able to save a soldier that I knew drove me crazy. When it got really hard, I reminded myself that I had to be strong for them,” said Tamar wiping away her tears.

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