Malkiel Ben-Yosef, who fought in Gaza, related today how afternoon prayers helped him find a terrorist setting up an ambush for his division.

“At the entrance to Bureij, during our last sortie, we had several delays before being allowed to enter the city. We had to stop for a full day, until eventually the last approvals were given. We entered the city, but had to stop in the middle of our march.”

“We were the last platoon in the line, and I saw that sunset was approaching and had not yet recited the afternoon prayers. Our force stopped and I told myself that this would be the last chance to do so. I stood up to pray, facing Jerusalem, and as I prayed, I saw an open area opposite me where engineering vehicles had already passed through. Approximately 10 to 15 meters from me, I saw something metal rising out of the sand.”

“At first, I did not understand what was moving, and thought it may have been an animal. A second later, I saw a man rising out of the ground with an RPG in his hand.”

“In a second, I had shouted for everyone's attention, because they were not far from me, and I started firing at the man. I realized that it was a terrorist, and he was making his way towards the rest of the force. From what I understand, he did not know that I was there to one side. As soon as I shouted, the RPG turned towards me and my friends, but we managed to kill him before he fired it.”

Malkiel said that he was just a few meters from the rest of the force, and that he did not know if he would have found the terrorist had he not stopped to pray.