---
title: 'I took my pistol and went down to Gaza,' veteran IDF soldier, reservist shares heroic Oct. 7 story
description: October 7, 2023 marked a harrowing day for Israel, one filled with unspeakable tragedy. In those fateful hours, a sense of chaos and confusion gripped the nation. Yet through the fog of uncertainty coming from the front lines, some of Israel's veterans and seasoned war heroes quickly sensed that something was terribly wrong.
image: https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Annie%20G%20images/IDF.png
---

# 'I took my pistol and went down to Gaza,' veteran IDF soldier, reservist shares heroic Oct. 7 story

[![Picture of Merit Street Media](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Merit%20logo.png) Merit Street Media ](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/news/author/merit-street-media-1) |  Oct 07, 2024

!['I took my pistol and went down to Gaza,' veteran IDF soldier, reservist shares heroic Oct. 7 story](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Annie%20G%20images/IDF.png)

Israel — October 7, 2023 marked a harrowing day for Israel, one filled with unspeakable tragedy. In those fateful hours, a sense of chaos and confusion gripped the nation. Yet through the fog of uncertainty coming from the front lines, some of Israel's veterans and seasoned war heroes quickly sensed that something was terribly wrong.

This is the story of former Israel Defense Forces Operations Chief, Major General (Res.) Israel Ziv. 

An everyday business man, now reservist for the Israel Defense Forces after serving for 35 years, he has many years of war experience inside Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. But nothing could prepare him for what he witnessed that day.

 

 

- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

## Have a comment or news tip for us?

Reach out and share your story.

[![Contact Us](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/43649162/4576b39d-eb1c-41b3-aaf7-780db156d431.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/43649162/4576b39d-eb1c-41b3-aaf7-780db156d431)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Merit Street Media",
    "url" : "https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/news/author/merit-street-media-1"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2024-10-07T13:55:15.408Z",
  "datePublished" : "2024-10-07T13:55:15.000Z",
  "headline" : "'I took my pistol and went down to Gaza,' veteran IDF soldier, reservist shares heroic Oct. 7 story",
  "image" : [ "https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Annie%20G%20images/IDF.png" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/news/i-took-my-pistol-and-went-down-to-gaza-veteran-idf-soldier-reservist-shares-heroic-oct.-7-story",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Merit%20Logo-White-1.png"
    }
  }
}
```