Fort Myers man fighting Hamas back home for good

Reporter: Claire Galt
Published: Updated:

A man who dropped everything to defend his people is now home for good.

In October last year, we met Logan Alef, the Fort Myers man who went overseas to fight for his people and defend his religion after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

We first spoke to Alef over FaceTime with Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz of Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida. While speaking to him, we could hear gunshots flying over his head.

In November, after Alef had been away from his family for weeks, WINK News was there when he returned to his family safely.

Now, Alef is done serving in the IDF and is home for good with his family in Fort Myers.

Because Alef knows there’s no joy in a real warzone, there’s no love, no hugs, not from his little girl or his wife Sarah, Alef said war is evil.

“You can’t make a cartoon comic book villain more evil than Hamas,” he said.

On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists crossed the Gaza border into Israel. They tortured, raped and butchered hundreds of Israelis, people living in the place where Alef grew up, the place his family and friends still call home.

“The worst, vicious animals don’t do things like this,” he said.

Alef served in the Israeli army once before and felt it was his duty to serve again.

He couldn’t say how bad things were until now.

“For the first three weeks, we were very, very, very busy. There were a lot of still roaming bands of terrorists in the south. There was still a lot of unrest, and as part of the special forces border police, we went down to the south. We were capturing and arresting Hamas terrorists,” he said.

Alef said that when his special intelligence unit got word, there was a Hamas terrorist to track down.

The waiting was rarely quiet. There were rockets with sirens.

“It was constant,” he said.

He was missing his 5-year-old daughter and his wife, who was afraid for her husband because she knew he was surrounded by so much death.

Finally, on Lilah’s 5th birthday, Alef came home. What was supposed to be a surprise turned into a welcome home.

“My wife said I’m never going back, so I’m never going back,” Alef said.

And now, Alef is at peace. He knows his family in Israel is safe and that he did his duty.

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