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The bullet passed through the tissue between the heart’s septa – the inner walls separating its chambers.
By Shula Rosen
Israeli surgeons at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center removed a soldier from immediate danger after a bullet pierced his chest during an IDF raid in Syria and came to rest inside his heart, The Times of Israel reported.
The soldier was flown in on a military helicopter in grave condition and is now recovering in intensive care.
Prof. Gil Bolotin, head of Rambam’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, said that time was of the essence when the medical team realized the bullet had penetrated the protective vest and had stopped inside the heart.
Bolotin told The Times of Israel that surgery was complex and challenging and involved opening the chest from both side to side and the center to stop the bleeding.
He was one of two troops badly hurt in the same overnight operation in southern Syria. Both arrived in critical shape and were rushed directly from the landing pad to emergency surgery for severe gunshot wounds, according to Rambam.
The bullet passed through the tissue between the heart’s septa, the inner walls separating its chambers.
Once the surgeons evaluated the damage, they decided against taking it out immediately.
Bolotin explained that the team may eventually remove it through another operation or by catheterization, though it could also be left in place. He said the soldier is already recovering and alert.
The condition of the two soldiers has since improved, and they are described as stable but still under close observation.
The two wounded soldiers were among six troops injured during an IDF mission in the Syrian village of Beit Jinn, around seven kilometers east of the Israeli border.
The army said the raid sought to arrest two brothers from the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya terror organization, who were believed to be planning attacks and had previously fired rockets at Israel.
Troops detained the suspects at home, then came under fire as they withdrew.
Soldiers returned fire, while helicopters, drones and fighter jets struck hostile positions the IDF said had been prepared in advance as targets.
The IDF has maintained a presence at nine positions in southern Syria for nearly a year, most of them inside a UN-patrolled buffer zone, and says its forces operate up to 15 kilometers inside the country to prevent weapons from reaching hostile groups on Israel’s border.
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