When we heard the mother and uncle of active duty U.S. Servicemember, Fadi Sckak, both American citizens, were trapped in northern Gaza, we had to coordinate their extraction. A member of our board of advisors, Alex Plitsas, also a SOF veteran and nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, upon hearing the story, contacted an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a professional acquaintance, to apprise the Israeli government of the Sckaks’ situation. Army Col. Steve Gabavics, who is based at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, made contact with Israel’s Defense Ministry. Alex continued to coordinate with U.S., Israeli, and Egyptian governments day and night to gain approval for the rescue. We’re proud to report Zahra and Farid Sckak were safely evacuated across the Egyptian border without incident on December 31st by our team of volunteers who risked everything to shuttle them through south Gaza in broad daylight.
We are grateful to Hope Hodge Seck and Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post for thoroughly detailing the daring rescue.
