Eleven months and counting

Fellowship Church recently hosted the spokeswoman for Rescuers Without Borders in Israel, Natalie Sopinsky, who gave an "on-the-ground and very personal" perspective of the Gaza and Hezbollah conflicts.

"On my speaking tour, I get the same questions over and over," Sopinsky said. "One of them is: What do you see happening ... will there be peace?"

Eleven months and counting as of Sept. 24, and now Hezbollah has launched all out attacks on northern Israel. The red dots on this map represent the missile hits launched recently from Lebanon. "Some of our rescuers are up north evacuating and treating injured families.

When young soldiers are killed in the line of duty, she shared, names are not released immediately, pending notification of the family first. In her position with Rescuers, Sopinsky sees the list each morning, and she dreads it. As a mother of three young men serving in the IDF, she feels the overwhelming pain the families feel when they lose someone.

When one of her sons was home on leave, she was tempted to ask him if he was afraid. "You don't ask a soldier if he is afraid," she told the audience. However, she did ask if any of the soldiers were afraid. Her son told her that there were three in his unit. "What happened to them?" she asked him. They are sent to another unit in a non-combat position.

Over the past 24 hours we have treated around 100 people who are sick or wounded," she stated in a newsletter.

"We have been able to rescue and treat people through use of our two armored vehicles and in each vehicle, we have a team of four armed rescuers.

"This is a sad reality. It is our situation now."

In each team, two of the rescuers have "tactical" skills, which are specific skills used in a war zone which includes techniques for treating severe bleeding, chest injuries, and blocked airways. This is not the same as skills used in a calm and controlled environment ... but rather are techniques for controlling injuries under stress.

"With our armored vehicles and combat-trained medics, we can intervene in dangerous areas, even in a war zone such as the north of Israel when under missile attack!"

Judea and the Shomron

The numbers of terror incidents in the first six months of 2024 in Judea and Samaria: 3,272 terror attacks, 1,868 rock-throwing, 456 fire-bombings, 299 attempted bombings, 109 shooting attacks, 150 burning tires/firecrackers, 371 lasers in the eyes, 19 paint bottle attacks

"As you can see ... things are not easing up in our region. Just because there is war in Gaza and on our northern border does not mean all the terrorists have flown to those regions to operate. Not at all. They are maintaining their 'usual' activities in our biblical Heartland. And we at Rescuers Without Borders - meaning our brave first response medics - are keeping up, even though some have been called up to reserve duty.

"A big thank you to all our donors who support us to allow us to intervene in northern Israel.

These are difficult days here. Thank you for continuing to stand with us.

We thank you for your ongoing support."

Since 2001, Rescuers Without Borders Israel (aka Yekirei Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron) has been the primary supporter of volunteer medics, paramedics and ambulance drivers throughout Judea and Samaria, working in full coordination with Magen David Adom in supplying defibrillators, medical equipment, ambulances and training. Today the organization has over 1,600 volunteers also in the areas around Jerusalem and the Old City. Rescuers Without Borders and is funded completely by private donations and is a registered 501 c 3 charitable organization.

To learn more, visit us at http://www.hatzalah.org.il.