Florida doctor treating IDF soldiers after war broke out during family vacation: 'Chaotic period of time'
A Florida doctor is offering a helping hand in Israel after his family's vacation to the Holy Land took a turn for the worst during Hamas' surprise attacks on Oct. 7.
"It's been a very chaotic period of time," Dr. Cory Harow, medical director of the emergency department of West Boca Medical Center, told "FOX & Friends First" on Wednesday.
"This is not something that you plan for. We had a phenomenal family vacation. We were touring, visiting with friends, extended family, and it was all fantastic being together until air raid sirens woke us up October 7th. We padded out into the hallway of our hotel, and the images that we saw on the televisions were just chilling."
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Harow, a dual American and Israeli citizen, joined the IDF while attending Tel Aviv University.
He currently serves in a unit that specializes in battlefield triage, assessing, treating and stabilizing battlefield injuries.
"We've been training every year. We meet for one week a year to maintain a high state of readiness. And then we were mobilized on October 7th when the hostilities began in an attempt to save as many battlefield lives as possible," he explained.
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After Hamas terrorists launched their surprise attacks last month, his phone rang, and he confirmed he was in the country and ready for emergency mobilization.
While his family flew back home to the U.S. the next day, he stayed behind to work with first responders to help treat wounded IDF soldiers.
Meanwhile, he says Hamas militants using Gaza citizens as human shields makes the conflict more challenging for Israelis reluctant to take aim at civilians.
"They shoot rockets, and it operates in civilian areas under hospitals, as you mentioned, in a concerted effort to murder Israeli civilians while avoiding repercussions. Now, this causes the IDF to sometimes limit the forces they use in order to limit civilian casualties, even though this exposes the IDF to increase casualties themselves," he said.
"My unit is designed to treat transcendent military combat injuries, and we were mobilized in part because of this."
Israel’s military announced Wednesday that more than 11,000 terrorist targets have now been hit inside the Gaza Strip, while the IDF shot down a surface-to-air missile fired from Lebanon at one of its drones.
FOX News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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