
Lieutenant Yinon Granot, a tank officer critically injured in Jabalia and currently undergoing rehabilitation at Sheba Medical Center, spoke to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News in honor of the IDF Casualties Appreciation Day. He recounted the moment of his injury and expressed his desire to return to active duty after recovery.
At the beginning of the interview, he describes the injury in Gaza: "I raised my head from the tank to direct where to attack. An explosive device placed in the window was triggered. I was hit in the neck, my corotid artery was cut, I was injured in the face and chest, and I took a shrapnel that pierced my lung and is now lodged in the diaphragm, requiring surgery."
"I remember everything," he adds. "I was conscious for about two minutes after the event. I stopped the bleeding from my main artery but felt difficulty breathing. I evacuated myself to the back door, asked the team to evacuate me backward, and just in the last words before I lost consciousness, I told them to throw all their bandages into the corridor, and I started bandaging myself with another soldier until I lost consciousness."
He describes his thoughts in those critical moments. "I thought to myself that I was about to die and just felt bad because I thought about my parents and my girlfriend. I mainly thought about them. When I woke up, the first thing I asked was 'Am I alive?' They told me I would survive, and then I asked if the team was okay and was relieved when the answer was positive."
Before he was injured, Granot spent a whole year deeply involved in the war. "It was a very intense year. The war became a way of life, and nothing really calmed down there. Every entry is no less stressful than the previous one, and you feel like it's your first day in Gaza. There is no complacency there; it's the most booby-trapped place I've seen, and I’ve been to every side of Gaza. There are still many terrorists, and that's the message that needs to be conveyed to those who think we're done there."
He describes the rehabilitation process as particularly empowering. "The rehabilitation here is amazing. Just being here with all the guys is truly the best mental treatment. When everyone talks, everyone has similar issues, experiencing similar hardships, it's amazing, and there's huge support from citizens who volunteer and donate. It's encouraging. There's no doubt that if I were in a difficult place, I'd be in a different state. This warm embrace lifts me up."
In the meantime, he's counting the days until he returns to fight. "After all the surgeries and rehabilitation, I will return to service."