In the midst of all the evil and sadness caused by the events of October 7, points of light occasionally emerge that create a sense of relief among many of us, and one such is the one in which soldiers from the IDF's National Rescue Unit rescued a parrot left in a house in the village of Gaza after the family members were evacuated from the area.
The soldiers arrived at the kibbutz and the communities near the Gaza Strip in the days following the massacre as part of an evacuation and treatment activity, when during the patrol they found a cage with a parrot inside. Maj. M., a company commander in the unit, told Israel Hayom that he and his soldiers immediately understood that it was impossible to leave the parrot alone at home, and decided to rescue it – and look for its family. "We decided to take him and feed him in our unit, and during the process we posted pictures of him on social media – and really, six days later, the father of the family recognized the parrot and gave us old pictures of it so that the identification would be certain," he said.
The parrot rescued with his family and the soldiers who rescued him, Photo: IDF Spokesperson
The encounter between the family members and children with the parrot turned out to be a very moving encounter. "In all the six days that the parrot was with us, he was silent because we thought he was experiencing the events in a very difficult way," he said. "But when the family came into the room and he all of them, including the children, he started shouting their names nonstop. It was a very moving moment, and it was also the first time we discovered that the parrot could talk. I guess he missed his family very much."
M. also said that the parrot was not the only animal rescued from that house, but also a snake raised in an aquarium – and it, too, of course, was returned to its owner. "There were a lot of dogs and cats left behind, treated by various units, and apparently some of them were injured by Hamas," he said.
Exciting: Parrot rescued from Gaza village reunites with its family // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
A military source who spoke to Israel Hayom said that these events are bright spots not only for the families who are reunited with their pets, but also with the fighters themselves – who are strengthened by them. "The fighters from the rescue units were exposed to shocking and very difficult things in the various communities, the evacuation of the various arenas was not a simple event at all," he said. "We have seen that every finding of an animal and returning it to its family raises the morale of the warriors and gives them points of light and joy that really bring them to life."
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