In message from hospital, ‘Fauda’ actor wounded in Gaza says ‘I’ll be OK’

Idan Amedi, seriously hurt in deadly incident, regained consciousness after surgery Tuesday; lawmaker visits him in hospital, conveys message urging to ‘stay strong together’

Star singer and actor Idan Amedi (R) with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)
Star singer and actor Idan Amedi (R) with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)

Star singer and “Fauda” actor Idan Amedi, who was seriously injured this week while fighting in Gaza, sent a message to followers Wednesday, saying he was on the mend.

National Unity MK Chili Tropper said that he visited Amedi and received two messages to share with the public, the first “to send thanks to all those who were concerned and sent love.”

The second, Tropper wrote on Instagram, “In the words of Amedi: ‘Forget me, I’ll be OK. What’s important is that we stay strong together.’”

Amedi was serving as an IDF reservist in the Combat Engineering Corps when he was injured, reportedly sustaining shrapnel wounds all over his body.

He was injured in an incident in which six other reservists, all combat engineers, were killed when explosives intended for demolishing a tunnel detonated during activity in central Gaza’s al-Bureij refugee camp.

Amedi was brought to Sheba in Ramat Gan at about 4 p.m. on Monday and underwent urgent, serious and lengthy surgery, according to Hebrew media.

Media reports Tuesday said Amedi had regained consciousness and was responsive, with his condition listed as moderate.

Avi Issacharoff, a co-writer of the TV hit series “Fauda,” in which Amedi depicted an elite IDF soldier operating deep in the West Bank and Gaza, tweeted that “on such a terrible day, there is a drop of light: Idan has woken up and is responding and his condition is defined as moderate.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the news of Amedi’s progress, in a post on X.

“I hear Idan Amedi’s message from all the bereaved families and soldiers I meet. It is our duty as a government to implement it,” he said, referring to Amedi’s call to be “strong together.”

In a recent video Amedi recorded from Gaza, he said, “After 90 days of fighting, we are continuing to destroy the short-range missile sites, the launch sites, and the command facilities of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

He also urged a halt to internal dissent among Israelis: “I join my brother reservists in calling on the politicians, all the media outlets, and everyone: Whoever doesn’t have something good to say, simply shut your mouths. The people of Israel live.”

Singer and actor Idan Amedi is interviewed in the Gaza Strip by Channel 12 news on January 9, 2024, shortly before being wounded while serving as a reserve soldier in the war against the Hamas terror group. (Channel 12 screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

On October 12, amid a call-up of more than 300,000 reservists — days after Hamas-led terrorists in Gaza stormed the border with Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping another 240, mostly civilians — Amedi posted a video on X, wearing military fatigues and saying: “This isn’t a scene from Fauda, it’s real life.”

“We are here to protect our children, our families and our homes, and I want to promise you that we won’t surrender until we win,” he said in the video.

A musician, songwriter and actor, Amedi was also filmed singing for IDF troops in the northern city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha in October.

Fighting has raged between the IDF and Gaza-ruling Hamas since Israel launched its military campaign in response to the October 7 onslaught, vowing to destroy the terror group.

Amedi, 35, was born and raised in Jerusalem, to Kurdish immigrants. Extremely proud of his heritage, Amedi always ended his concerts with a song in Kurdish.

One of his best-known songs, titled “Warrior’s Pain,” describes the post-traumatic experience of a soldier coming back from war. The song made a fast run of the charts in 2010, after he performed it on the Israeli music competition show “Kochav Nolad,” or “A Star is Born.”

Amedi, who is married with two children, completed his mandatory military service in the IDF Combat Engineering Corps’ 603rd Battalion from 2006 to 2009.

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