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"It first happened the moment I finished covering her body and saw the roller shoes next to it. Immediatley I decided to start documenting this horrible reality with a different angle. Slowly, hundreds of such photographs accumulated on my computer and I decided to set up an exhibition."

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With these words, which struggle to contain the immense pain he has been storing within him for over a year, Boaz Samuoai, a nature photographer from Eilat, describes his powerful exhibition, entitled 'Iron Lens,' which was presented at the Eilat city Museum, in collaboration with the Eilat Municipality and the Eilat Tourism Corporation.

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On October 8, Samorai donned his uniform, after waiting for a call-up to the reserves that never came, and traveled on his own initiative to assist in the atacked area. Samorai, a combat engineering officer in the reserves, joined the soldiers who searched all the areas of the attack, looking for explosives and weapons. He later joined the ZAKA teams that were involved in evacuating bodies, and then was deployed to the army teams that fought in the heart of Gaza.

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A sniper focused on a target, soldiers on an operational raid, burned vehicles, ruined houses, looks of pain on the faces of soldiers carrying a wounded man on a stretcher, a dog with sad eyes peering through the rubble and torn mattresses and blankets, fire and billows of smoke, and next to them islands of silence – a soldier putting on tefillin, a soldier hugging a dog to his lap, a pouring of coffee from a sooty pinjan, a letter sent by a girl to a soldier, a joint prayer of soldiers before going into battle, soldiers playing, and a football lying still next to a rocket launcher, a covered body and pink roller skates next to it.

These are just a small part of the moving and polarizing moments that will be presented in the exhibition.

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"I was asked to be an operational documentarian – to join the soldiers and photograph Hamas operational items for investigative purposes. I quickly realized that the dimensions of the horror were immense and unimaginable, and I felt a strong and instinctive need to document for national, social, and historical needs as well. Between one mission and another, I photographed the moments I call 'in between.' Personal moments, special encounters, human contact."

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"I joined combat teams consisting mainly of young soldiers in regular service, and I saw how their souls were being eroded day by day. I myself, at the age of 45 and with many years of experience, went through quite a trauma. At first I had great anger and a desire to blow up and tear to pieces, and later, when I saw the heavy price we were paying, the wounded and the dead, I was filled with sadness. Then in order not to sink into it, I decided to focus on the beautiful things that exist in us as a people, and especially in this wonderful young generation that was sent to pull us out of the mud. I met amazing and valuable young people and I am trying to convey a message of hope through the exhibition, and it is also a mission for me to give the opposite image to the anti-Semitism that is raging against us in the world."

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The collection of photos is currently on display at several bases throughout the IDF, and Boaz shares them with various groups throughout the country in guided meetings.

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Hoping for the return of the kidnapped, for the safe return of IDF soldiers to their homes, and for the safe return of all evacuees to their homes, and for a life of peace and tranquility everywhere in the State of Israel.

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