Former Capitol Broadcasting GM travels to Israel to provide aid

100 days have passed since the Hamas attacks on Israeli soil. In that time, tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict--mostly Palestinians.

Though Gaza has taken the brunt of the war--Israel has felt the effect, too.

The war inspired former Capitol Broadcasting General Manager Steve Hammel to go overseas and volunteer.

Hammel sent WRAL News photos and videos from his time in Israel, including from the hospital in Tel Aviv where hundreds of people needed help on the Oct. 7 attack.

“You can read about it, think about it [or] write a check, but I wanted to do something with my hands and support people here,” he said.

Hammel said he spent the day on a farm, picking clementines. According to local news sources in Israel, thousands of workers from Thailand, who normally pick the fruit, evacuated after the attack.

“There’s a need to be picking fruit because if you’re not doing that, the fruit trees go away [and] will not bear fruit,” he explained. “Not just this year, but in years to come.”

Hammel also toured Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Israel---where hundreds of people needed to be treated that day.

“We heard about one pediatric doctor who on Oct. 7 was treating patients, and then the next day he was in the army and then killed,” he said.

Hammel said he’s seen protestors everywhere, commemorating the people who were killed, or taken hostage, including children.

“It just hit me that there’s a memorial wall, Yad Vashem, that commemorates the Holocaust,” he said. “ What I was thinking about as I was looking at the faces of these hostages, some of whom aren’t alive, It’s like this is modern-day Yad Vashem. I got really teary at that point.”

Hammel is currently in Israel with a Jewish mission group, Jewish National Fund.

Over the next few days, volunteers will load buses with essential supplies, including food.

Hammel said it’s critical, in difficult times, for people to contribute to humanity.