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HELL ON EARTH
I was first to face Hamas in bloody 24hr battle after massacre – the smell of death still haunts me, says Brit soldier
Read excerpts from Sam's heart-wrenching war-time diary written from the frontline
BRIT Israeli soldier Sam Sank fought Hamas in a 24-hour battle inside a ravaged town full of dead bodies after the October 7 massacre.
Sam spoke to The Sun about the hellish war that "broke him" in the six months since Hamas slaughtered over 1,000 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more.
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Spurs fan Sam, raised in north London, woke up to the fairly common sound of sirens in Tel Aviv on the morning of October 7 and thought nothing of it.
It wasn't until later that he and his girlfriend uncovered the true horrors of Hamas' early ambush as they hunkered down in the building's bomb shelter.
The 33-year-old was kitted out on an Israeli army base, gun in hand, by 4pm that afternoon.
Over the following months Sam documented a living "hell" of war in Gaza, beginning with the particularly grim mission of taking back Kfar Aza.
He recorded clips of the razed ruins of Gaza and wrote heart wrenching diary entries for his friends and loved ones.
In one particularly horrific battle, one of Sam's fellow soldiers was shot in the face and died in front of him as he dragged another to safety after taking a bullet to the back.
His unit moved through and cleared the Strip of Hamas terrorists. destroying their tunnels, bases and networks.
Just weeks into the war he wrote: "Seeing the aftermath of this most tragic massacre in Israel’s history broke me and I cried for the first time since everything began."
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A 24-hour battle for Kfar Aza
On October 9, Sam was sent to Kfar Aza, one of the first and worst-hit communities terrorised by Hamas in the dawn ambush.
Around 70 terrorists stormed the village where over 700 people lived on a day dubbed Israel's 9/11.
Some of the atrocities that happened there, some of the bodies and the smells and the sites were quite horrific
Sam Sank
The IDF spent two days taking back the village and later released horrific reports of beheadings, child killings and families being burnt alive.
Sam told The Sun: “Our role was to go into the kibbutz and secure it and kill any terrorists that we found."
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Sam was posted inside the ravaged community for 24 hours.
He told The Sun: "We saw some bodies, bodies of an entire family in a car who were trying to escape who were shot.
"We saw other bodies that were just in the kibbutz that hadn't been taken away yet."
He said that the gruesome smell of bodies around him was "strong" and crows circled overhead, "waiting to pounce" on the dead.
Sam described an eerie feeling hanging over the destroyed community, where houses had been torched to the ground.
“Some of the atrocities that happened there, some of the bodies and the smells and the sites were quite horrific."
A couple of days after leaving Kfar Aza, Sam wrote a diary entry - one of many he sent to loved ones and posted online - saying that he felt "broken".
He wrote: "I'm in a constant state of mourning inside and keep hearing of people I know who have been killed".
Losing a friend in Khan Younis
On December 3, one of Sam’s friends and fellow soldiers died in front of him the day they entered the Gaza Strip in Khan Younis.
As his company ploughed into the hotbed of terror activity and the birthplace of Hamas kingpin Yayha Sinwar, they were ambushed.
There was a big firefight, with explosions and rockets and gunfire over our heads. My friend was killed
Sam Sank
An anti-tank missile flew above them, landing just metres away and a firefight exploded.
Sam said "all hell broke lose" and two troops were shot amidst all the chaos.
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He helped one fellow soldier who was shot in the back, dragging him to safety and likely saving his life.
But Sam's other friend, from a different company, was shot in the face and died.
“We walked in by foot. We got to the point where we were supposed to be situated, and then all hell broke loose," Sam told The Sun.
"There was a big firefight, with explosions and rockets and gunfire over our heads.
“My friend was killed, unfortunately, and another friend was shot in the back.”
Describing his first day in the thick of fighting inside the Strip, Sam wrote: "Not sure what I was expecting to say after going to war but that was pretty much hell."
His battalion also came face to face with Hamas terrorists during a firefight inside a school.
They uncovered troves of terrorist weapons hidden inside homes, schools and the “most innocent looking places”.
Life on the frontline
For several months Sam, who had been living with girlfriend -- in Tel Aviv and working in IT, was pulled from the IDF reserves to help obliterate Hamas.
His emotional war-time diary describes regular nightmares and freezing temperatures on the frontline.
My hands are shredded, I’m having crazy, disturbing dreams at night and in general, I’m not sleeping well
Sam Sank
The young Brit went to the toilet in a plastic bag each day for 60 days during his time inside the Strip and longed to see his loved ones.
By the time he was let go in January, Sam was exhausted, homesick traumatised and unsure if he'd ever be the same again.
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Sam had left London to move to Israel after finishing his A-Levels at 18, joining the IDF paratroopers for the compulsory two and a half years.
He told The Sun he was initially buoyed up by the feeling that they were all fighting to protect their country when the war broke out last year.
But after living through the true hellscape of Hamas' fight with Israel, he said: "It's not something I want to go through ever again.
"I distinctly remember feeling this after just one day in Gaza, although that first day inside also happened to be the hardest and most harrowing day of them all."
After just two weeks Sam had written home: "It feels like months since I’ve been home and there is absolutely no prospect of going home at all any time soon.
"I’m losing it a bit; finding it hard to stay focused, motivated or in good spirits.
"My hands are shredded, I’m having crazy, disturbing dreams at night and in general, I’m not sleeping well."
Sam was able to travel back to Tel Aviv a few times - on one trip proposing to his girlfriend and reuniting with his concerned mum who lives in London.
On January 29 in a diary entry he wrote home to his family, Sam said: “Life stopped for me on 7/10 but it’s about to restart again.
“... I haven’t really come to terms with or even understand what’s needed for me to go back to the person I was.”
Six months of war
After six months of brutal fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israel has been the subject of heavy international criticism.
In its army's efforts to wipe out Hamas, the that over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The events and aftermath of 7/10 have been so damaging and the objectives set out by the army at the beginning of the war; destroying Hamas and returning the hostages, do not look like they're close to being achieved
The UN also revealed that as of March 14, 12,300 children have been killed there in four months.
This is more than in four years of global conflict around the globe.
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Much of the besieged enclave has been turned to rubble and international aid groups have warned about the ever-increasing risk of famine.
Just days ago, seven aid workers including three Brits working in Gaza were killed in an "unintentional" strike by the Israeli military.
They were working for the World Central Kitchen to deliver food to Palestinians and Israel's highest-ranking officer Herzi Halevi dubbed the strike a "grave mistake".
During Sam's time in the Strip, most areas his company moved in on had already been cleared.
He said it was rare for them to come across civilians, and if they did he argues they should've been properly evacuated beforehand by authorities inside Gaza.
Sam told The Sun: “I trust the IDF to do everything to try and minimise civilian casualties and civilian damage.
“If we truly want to defeat Hamas and secure a better future for ourselves and for the Palestinian people, then Hamas needs to be destroyed as best it can."
But Sam added that it does not feel like an approaching victory for Israel and he fears the goal to bring home Israel's hostages is not close to being achieved.
Until every single one of them is home, this war will feel like a defeat and it is already one of the darkest periods in Israel's entire history
Sam Sank
Out of the more than 200 hostages kidnapped on October 7, around 130 still remain in the Strip.
Israeli officials believe around 30 of those are already dead.
"While my battalion and company succeeded in our missions over the border, when looking at the big picture it does not feel like we are winning this war," Sam told The Sun.
"The events and aftermath of 7/10 have been so damaging and the objectives set out by the army at the beginning of the war; destroying Hamas and returning the hostages, do not look like they're close to being achieved.
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"I come home after two months in Gaza with a strong feeling of disappointment; most of our enemies remain alive underground and they are holding our citizens there with them.
"Until every single one of them is home, this war will feel like a defeat and it is already one of the darkest periods in Israel's entire history."
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