SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As Sagi Hebron watches the Israel-Hamas war unfold from his home in University Heights, he recalls dark memories of his time as an Israeli soldier.
“I’m sick to my stomach when I think about the hostages," Hebron said. "What’s going on, what’s happening to them and their friends.”
Hebron was born and raised in San Diego but his parents were born in Israel. He says he joined the IDF in 2012 right after graduating high school in Clairemont.
“Why did you decide to first join the Israeli defense forces?”
“I felt like it was a very important thing for me to give back to the land that for so many years served my parents.”
In 2014, Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza after officials there say three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped by Hamas. Hebron says he was called to fight in the war and led an infantry squadron of 12 men.
“To fight against people like that who have no respect for human life made it very difficult.”
Now, he says all of the men who fought alongside him are back on the front lines once again readied for a ground invasion of Gaza. Hebron knows how difficult this can be because of Hamas’ extensive underground tunnel network.
“Hamas has an underground tunnel world I would say, under Gaza. That’s usually to hide kidnapped civilians, the higher ups of Hamas, and to move weapons from one place to another. We didn’t know where these terror tunnels would open. Some open to civilian territories.”
Although he’s concerned for the safety of his friends and family...
“Israel has highly specialized units that know how to take care of that, and I'm not worried.”
