Netflix star heads to Israel warzone to rescue families

Entertainment

The star of hit TV show Fauda says he travelled to southern Israel to rescue families under siege from Hamas.

Lior Raz said he joined “brave brothers in arms” in Sderot – a city right on the Gaza border.

He posted a video on X showing him and the show’s co-creator, journalist Avi Issacharoff, taking cover as rockets fire overhead.

Both are former members of Israel’s undercover Duvdevan counter-terror unit.

Raz wrote: “Accompanied by Yohanan Plesner @yplesner and Avi @issacharoff, I headed down south to join hundreds of brave ‘brothers in arms’ volunteers who worked tirelessly to assist the population in the south of Israel.

“We were sent to the bombarded town of Sderot to extract 2 families.”

He posted it on Monday night but didn’t say exactly when it was filmed.

More on Israel

Lior Raz
Image:
Lior Raz is the star of Netflix show Fauda

Sderot was one of numerous areas targeted by Hamas when the group launched its surprise attack on Saturday morning.

In one incident in the city, at least nine were people shot dead at a bus shelter.

Yohanan Plesner, the other man mentioned in Raz’s post, is the president of the Israel Democracy Institute.

He’s also a former politician and ex-member of the Sayeret Matkal unit, a unit modelled on the UK’s SAS.

Israeli soldiers look at the remains of a police station which was the site of a battle following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Image:
A police station in Sderot was the site of a fierce battle

Israeli soldiers look out as they stand between buildings, as violence around the nearby Gaza Strip mounts following a mass-rampage by armed Palestinian infiltrators, in Sderot, southern Israel, October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Image:
Israeli soldiers in Sderot on Monday

Raz plays the commander of an undercover Israeli unit in Fauda – with the show depicting the human cost of both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

It’s become an international hit after appearing on Netflix.

Read more:
Rockets fired towards Ashkelon as 1,000 now confirmed dead
Who is the shadowy Hamas commander known as ‘The Guest’

People praised the men for rushing to help their compatriots, many of whom were taking cover in their homes as fighting raged.

“It’s not often that art intersects with life in such a visceral way. Thank you for your bravery. Be safe,” posted one user on X.

Another commented: “Like an episode of Fauda in real life. You are a brave human being standing up for your family, and your fellow citizens. I pay tribute to you, and other very brave Israelis like you. Thank you xx.”

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