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- Four months after dramatic rescue from Gaza, Ori Megidish returns to IDF service
Four months after dramatic rescue from Gaza, Ori Megidish returns to IDF service
The IDF says the decision to resume Megidish's army service stemmed from her "personal desire and sense of mission to serve the country"
Four months ago, Ori Megidish was dramatically rescued from Gaza after being taken hostage on October 7.
Now, the IDF soldier is re-donning her uniform, and is ready to continue her service in the Israeli army.
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Megidish, who was violently taken from the IDF base at Nahal Oz, spent 23 days in Hamas captivity before being rescued in an IDF special operation. The 19-year-old spent the past several months recovering at her family home and speaking out in solidarity with the remaining hostages. She apparently pushed to resume her army service, feeling a "sense of mission to serve the country." The IDF said that the decision to return to service came from Megidish's "personal desire." She will serve in an intelligence unit.
Megidish met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal last month, accompanied by her mother. She told the President that while in captivity she looked for signs from God that she would be alright.
Megidish had served at the Nahal Oz base acting as a lookout, the female unit being known as the "eyes of the IDF" on the Gaza border. At an event with Israel donors, she recounted the trauma of the violent Saturday morning, saying that she and 19of her female comrades had huddled in the safe room, where they only had 4 weapons among them. Hamas terrorists threw grenades into the room, and Megidish was wounded in the head, legs, and chest. She was among only 7 who survived the shooting and grenade attack, but says it was hours before the terrorists took the survivors hostage, during which time they tried to communicate with their families and say good-bye.
Megidish revealed that her best friend on the base, Noa Marciano, was also taken captive, but was killed later in Gaza. IDF forces were able to recover her body while operating near Shifa hospital and bring it back to Israel.