Suspicious, he begins by politely declining our offer to speak. “There are the security services,” breathes this tall guy, blond hair, blue eyes, reservist in the Israeli army. He takes a few steps in terminal 2 B of Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, before turning around. “Tell your readers what’s happening there is a disaster, it’s completely crazy. I have never seen that. They kidnap and kill children. They attack innocent people,” this 20-year-old young man finally tells us in English, specifying that he wishes to testify anonymously. He is obviously “afraid” of what he will discover when he gets off the plane in Tel Aviv. “But this is my country, and I must fight for it. »
The passenger takes his phone out of his pocket. He shows us a map of Israel, shared by friends of his on a WhatsApp group. Red dots indicate the places where rockets fired from the Gaza Strip by Hamas fighters, whom he compares to Daesh jihadists, crashed. “There are them all the time,” regrets the young reservist, who had been in France for a few days to participate in a sporting competition. He shows us photos of deceased Israeli soldiers. Several of his friends have been killed in recent days while partying. “They were the best people I knew. Tell the world what’s happening. »
“I felt guilty, my stomach was in knots”
This Monday afternoon, El Al flight LY324 left Paris heading to Tel Aviv at 2:45 p.m. And other Israeli army reservists were on board. Cap screwed on his head, beard, blue t-shirt, Bar, 28 years old, returns from Corsica, where he went on vacation. “My friends, my family are there, it’s important to go and join them. The situation is extreme in my country,” the young man explains in English. He also lost some friends. “Everyone in Israel knows someone who has lost their life” since the start of the offensive launched on Saturday by the Palestinian Islamist movement, he laments. Bar wants to remain confident in the future. “I am sure that we will regain control of the situation quickly,” he says.
A little further on, in the check-in line, a young man is chatting with his friends. This Franco-Israeli prefers to give us the first letter of his first name, “S.” S., therefore, had been in France, where his grandparents live, for a few days. When the first fighting broke out, the young man, aged 22, did not hesitate “for a single second”. “I couldn’t leave my family and friends there, I felt guilty, my stomach was in knots. I must protect them. » S. went to the airport on Sunday, but his flight was canceled. He hoped to find a place on this Tuesday’s flight. Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, this reservist soldier will go and collect his equipment. “Then, according to the instructions, I will be sent either to the north of the country or to the South, where my friends are.” The situation reminds him of the Israeli-Palestinian war of 2021. “This is not the first time that we have experienced this type of conflict,” he breathes, adding that he is afraid of reliving “certain things”.
“I’m afraid the conflict will drag on”
Ben, 30 years old, has just checked in his luggage. He was due to return to Israel on Wednesday. But this IDF reservist, called in for reinforcements, preferred to shorten his vacation and take an earlier flight “because of the situation.” “It was very hard to find a place,” he confides in English. He has already spent three years in the army, “so I’m not afraid. I’ve seen dead people before.” In the past, “military operations only lasted a few days,” he notes. Before adding: “This time, I am afraid that the conflict will drag on. »