Idan Amedi, star of the hit Israeli TV show “Fauda,” was severely wounded on Monday during fighting in the Gaza Strip where he was deployed as an Israel Defense Forces reservist.
According to reports in the Israeli media, the actor and singer was hurt after coming across a booby-trapped shaft of a Hamas terror tunnel, where his Combat Engineering Corps unit was operating at the time.
He sustained serious injuries and was transported to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. Amedi is said to be in a stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery.
Less than half an hour before the incident Amedi was interviewed on the battlefield by a Channel 12 reporter. He told Israelis, “We love you,” and “Am Yisrael Chai,” (Hebrew for “the people of Israel live”).
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Amedi was called up for reserve duty along with several other of his “Fauda” costars at the start of Israel’s war against Hamas that followed the October 7 onslaught.
Shortly after joining the reserves, Amedi posted a message on social media, saying, “No, this is not a scene from Fauda, this is real life. We are here to protect our children, families and homes.”
A few days ago, Amedi posted a video message on his social media, asking politicians and the press to stop using the war to spread dissent among the Israeli public, telling them, “Shut your mouths.”
“Fauda” cocreator and actor Lior Raz posted a message on his Instagram, wishing Amedi a speedy recovery.
“As a part of Candle Media’s Faraway Road Productions and the Fauda family, our hearts are with him and his family as we pray for a fast recovery,” he posted, adding the actor was “a hero from the first day of the war.”
Raz himself at the start of the war joined thousands of soldiers as volunteers for Brothers in Arms, an alliance of reservists originally established to oppose the government’s judicial reform plan last year.
In the meantime, Israeli NBA star Deni Avdija paid tribute to Amedi during a game on Monday night. The Washington Wizards forward wore footwear with a handwritten message scribbled on them: “For the recovery of Idan — the son of Tova Amedi.”
Two months ago, Matan Meir, a longtime “Fauda” production crewmember, was killed in Gaza in a blast, after discovering a tunnel shaft near a booby-trapped mosque. The show’s production company called Meir’s loss “devastating.”
