Two U.S. veterans have organized deliveries of hundreds of pieces of needed medical equipment and support to Israeli soldiers and civilians under attack by Hamas terrorists, they told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Lewis, a former U.S. Marine, and Paul, an Air Force veteran, started organizing within days of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack to address the lack of military medical supplies in Israel, they told the DCNF on the condition that their last names would be withheld due to security concerns. The shortage of supplies is due to Hamas terrorists’ invasion Saturday into Israel, where they killed, raped and kidnapped hundreds of civilians. (RELATED: Americans That Were Stranded In Israel Describe Difficulties With ‘Very Delayed’ Biden Admin Help)
During the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas terrorists carried out massacres of entire neighborhoods and a music festival, a celebration where they killed roughly 260 people. That’s when the need for medical equipment became dire, leading Lewis and Paul to leverage help from private companies and individuals in a medical supply drive to obtain tourniquets, gauze, chest seals and more needed lifesaving and humanitarian aid.
Since then, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have called up roughly 300,000 reservist soldiers, some of whom took to social media days after the war began to complain they weren’t properly equipped with military gear, according to the Times of Israel.
Going back to at least 2019, Israeli officials have debated whether or not they have adequate supplies to respond to urgent security threats, according to the Times of Israel. Maj. Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Brick, then the chief complaints officer for Israel’s defense department, described the IDF’s emergency supply inventory as “worse than it was at the time of the Yom Kippur War” in 1973.
UPDATE: As of this time, the IDF has confirmed that over 120 civilians are being held captive in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization. pic.twitter.com/AT75iC8TmY
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 14, 2023
“I was a medic in the US military, heavily involved after the military with humanitarian work. During the Afghanistan withdrawal, I taught tactical combat casualty care to various law enforcement and first responder agencies, civilian populations, government agencies, stuff like that, and also supported other entities within the U.S. military.” Paul, who said his family was forced to flee Morocco for Israel due to antisemitism, told the DCNF.
Hamas has continued its attacks on Israel by firing more than 6,000 rockets at civilian territory, according to the IDF.
“And this was a chance for me to not only impact just a civilian population that needs help, but also directly my family. So, I obviously felt called to help in any way I could,” Paul said.
“There’s a big shortage of ballistic helmets and plates,” Paul told the DCNF, adding that he’s sending hundreds of pieces of support equipment to support the IDF.
“Within four days, a friend of mine called me and it was actually about one of my cousin’s units. They had run out of tourniquets within four days, and were having to reuse tourniquets, which was a huge no no, they’re not made for reuse. Additionally, that’s gotta be pretty traumatic carrying a used one on you, that was used on your friends. And they pretty much ran out and the National surplus was close to zero,” Paul said.
A spokesperson for the IDF didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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