SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — This was Aviv Zmirly’s reality for the last three months. He watched explosions go off through his night vision goggles while fighting alongside the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza. It’s a stark contrast from the inside of his suburban home in Carmel Valley.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to let them be there in a state of war and go back to the other side of the war to share some things on Instagram," Zmirly said. "It was not an option.”
Zmirly is an Israeli-U.S. citizen. He finished his mandatory IDF service years ago, but volunteered to return when the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7th. Zmirly says he served as a captain in the Combat Engineering unit and led a platoon of 17 men into Gaza.
“What was that like? Seeing it firsthand?
“There's no actual way to describe the variety of feelings and sights.”
Zmirly’s platoon used bulldozers to locate and destroy the underground tunnels where Hamas soldiers hide. He says they were frequently located under civilian homes.
“It’s got its own underground metro. Bigger than the new york subway, it’s absolutely insane. It seemed like every third house was in on it.”
As of Wednesday, more than 24,400 people have been killed in Gaza according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. United Nations experts say Gazans are facing internet blackouts, famine, and catastrophic hunger.
“I think that with the conflict of putting on military uniform, youre doing something to defend your actual home.”
“Do you ever question Israel’s response?”
“No. I think up until now, Israel has been doing the only option we have. It’s not about retaliation. It's about having a lot of terrorism in a specific area that needs to be dealt with.”
At the end of December, the IDF gave Zmirly the option to return home and he took it. Now he has to watch the fighting from afar, along with most of the world.
“What do you hope for moving forward?”
“That’s the kind of question that makes me happy I'm not a decision maker. I just know I don’t want anymore civilians to get hurt.”
