From Fireball to Recovery: The Inspiring Journey of Eviatar Bashari

Eviatar Bashari, 23, holds a before-and-after picture of himself. On the right, he stands tall and smiling in his military gear. On the left, he lies wounded in a hospital bed, eyes closed beneath layers of bandages. He recounts the incident in the mosque that altered his life in an instant, sharing openly about the pain, the strength he found along the way, and the dreams he carries forward.

"I Thought My Purpose in the World Was Over"

The injury occurred four and a half months into the war. Bashari and his comrades in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade were on an operation in the Zaytoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City. "We got a report of a tunnel entrance in one of three buildings and were tasked with finding it," he recalls.

"We entered the first building but found nothing, then moved to the second building, which was also clear. The third building was a two-story mosque. We split: part of the team 'cleared' the upper floor, while the rest, including me and our commander, Yitzhak Turgeman, checked the ground floor."

With his parents, next to the rescue helicopter

Bashari was instructed to cover a certain direction with his weapon while the floor was being searched. He recalls the moments before the injury: "I stood by a large window and covered it. I thought to myself that it wasn’t too smart because the window was big, and I was quite exposed.

"Seeing a concrete pillar behind me, I took a few steps to stand behind it. Initially, I felt secure, but I quickly realized it was too narrow to offer real protection, so I moved again, this time next to a large wooden door leading to the mosque’s main hall."

Fellow soldiers evacuating Eviatar after the injury

The feeling of insecurity lingered, so he moved once more to a corner wall. "It was then that Turgeman noticed a suspicious steel door behind me and wanted to check behind it. Concerned it might be booby-trapped, he was bringing an explosive frame to detonate the door safely."

"Just before he set the frame, a massive explosion rocked the entire building, sending me flying. It felt like an eternity. Mid-air, I had the thought that perhaps my mission in life was complete. Wrapped inside what felt like a giant fireball, I was curled up like a ball inside it."

"I likely lost consciousness quickly. It happened in fractions of a second that felt eternal. I was sure I was dying, feeling like a black hole was swallowing me. There's a brief lapse I can't recall, likely when I lost consciousness."

The building where the incident occurred

"A Great Miracle"

"When I woke up, I realized I was still in the mosque, amid chaos, with my injuries. My ears rang from the explosion, everything was smashed, smoke and black ash were everywhere. Looking back, I saw Turgeman lying behind me. I had no idea if he was alive or not. I crawled toward him and shook him."

"Turgeman came to, looked at me, and said, 'Bashari, you’re injured!' I was relieved he told me, and to this day, we laugh about it," Bashari says with a broad smile. He later sent photos from the injury that demonstrate why the situation was funny—the injury was extensive, including his entire face. There was no missing it.

Eviatar before the injury

"I couldn’t stand up, and he helped me. I looked at my hand, bleeding profusely. I chose not to look at the rest of my body. Turgeman supported me, and alongside him, I hobbled toward the building's exit. On the way out, we met the rest of the squad, who gave me shocked glances."

When they reached the building's entrance, Bashari unsuccessfully tried squeezing through a wall opening. At that moment, he realized his condition was worse than he thought. "They opened a stretcher, laid me on it, and evacuated me to the regiment’s evacuation vehicle, which brought me to the border. From there, I was airlifted to Sheba Medical Center."

"On the ground floor, near where I was standing, there was a large hole in the wall, created by a bulldozer to allow entry into the building." He explains that entry is performed this way due to the risk of booby-trapped doors.

"The explosives were precisely in the hole the bulldozer made. It was a great miracle they only exploded when Turgeman and I were there. Had they exploded earlier, the consequences would likely have been much more severe."

Eviatar before the injury

"Thank Hashem that my treatment is over"

Bashari arrived at Sheba in critical condition, mainly from inhaling smoke. Just before he was sedated and put on a ventilator, doctors allowed him to speak with his parents. "It might sound funny, but I wanted to talk only to my dad. I knew he would handle it. If I told my mom I was injured, she would panic, and I didn’t want to worry her."

"I didn’t grasp the severity of my condition. Even when I spoke to my dad, I asked him not to tell mom. After the call, I was sedated, and when my parents arrived, I was already unconscious and ventilated." After two days, doctors woke him. Due to the severe burns, he was given strong sedatives. "For a week, I was in a haze from the painkillers, and they gradually reduced them."

"The medications and heavy sedatives were mainly for the morning treatments. I would wake each day for a series of excruciating treatments. A quarter of my body was covered in burns, and for the skin to regenerate, they had to peel and tear the damaged skin, apply ointments, and rebandage.

"During treatment, I’d scream from the depth of my soul, knowing there was nothing I could do. I’d thank Hashem that the treatment was over."

Another challenge Bashari mentions was dealing with the severe burns on his face. "It was tough to look in the mirror. I’d look and cry. I didn’t believe I’d get back to my old self." By divine grace, today no signs of the burns remain on his face.

Eviatar and friends in Gaza before the injury

"After a week, they were able to reduce the painkillers, and after two weeks, I moved to rehabilitation. The skin healed at an unusual pace. One of the nurses, with over 20 years in the department, told me, 'I’ve never seen a case like yours.' Even a regular wound takes days to heal, let alone deep burns. Being discharged to rehabilitation within two weeks is an extraordinary miracle." He stayed in rehabilitation for about a month.

"Much of the strength I received came from the good people who visited, talked, smiled, and gave. Endless good people."

"Surrounded by Goodness"

"There are questions that stay with me to this day. There are questions I asked then and received answers to, and there are questions I haven’t received answers to. There was a time when I’d pray and address them to Hashem in my own words."

"Today, in hindsight, I understand that what happened to me has its harsh and challenging aspects, but there’s also a lot of goodness. I’ve seen so much good with my own eyes, at levels an average person doesn’t get to see."

"For six weeks, everything around you, everything enveloping you, is just good. True, there are your struggles, but everyone around me were just good people—volunteers coming to give of themselves, offering endless love. Even the Chief Rabbi of Russia spoke with me via video call and sent his son-in-law to visit me."

"When I was released from rehabilitation, my parents wanted to organize a thanksgiving party for me. Seeing what organizing entailed for them, I wanted to ease their burden, after all they did and continue to do for me during the injury and rehabilitation. I asked them, 'Pause a moment. Maybe I’ll reach out to the many good people I met along the way.' Among others, I contacted Hanoch Daum. I didn’t ask him for money or anything.

"He wrote a post and left my phone number at the end. It was astounding. Within moments, I started receiving a flood of calls and people wanting only to give and volunteer." Eventually, the thanksgiving party had hundreds of participants.