August 30, 2022. The time: 3:07
"Peaceful police," replied Liron Barfi, a Shaham police officer (mandatory police service). This happened early Tuesday morning, during a completely standard shift at the control and control center of the Shi'i district.
And although you never know, the chance that something dramatic will happen during these hours usually tends to zero.
Nine months after she enlisted and about three months after she arrived at the battalion, Liron was already an experienced operator - but it seems that nothing prepared her for the fear that was heard in the voice of the man on the other end of the phone line.
"Hello! Hello!", a horribly frightened voice is heard, as gunshots are heard in the background.
"Shooting in Nablus, shooting in Nablus. We are in Nablus, shooting. They are shooting at us."
"Where are you?" Liron can be heard in the recording of those dramatic seconds (which can be heard on the Israel Hayom website).
"In Nablus, in Nablus," replied the man.
This was the beginning of a tense drama, which could easily be used as a script for an action movie.
50 minutes of tension and terror, while terrorists search for five Israelis trapped in the heart of the city of Nablus, when they are meters away and waiting - trembling, two of them seriously injured - for the security forces.
Three months after the incident, which could have easily ended in the murder of five Israelis or their kidnapping, the dispatchers returned to those dramatic minutes, when they trained their forces, instructed the Israelis on how to escape from terrorists who set fire to them and helped one of them treat his serious injury, while the terrorists were looking for them and setting fire to their vehicle.
50 minutes, 3,000 seconds.
Eternity.
"There is one entrance per month to Yosef's tomb," explains Sub-Commissioner Eli Ovadia, the police officer of the Shi'i district.
"These are regulated, official and coordinated entries with the army. When there is security sensitivity, the army cancels, and when there is not, it allows. Unfortunately, on their side, there are uncontrolled and uncoordinated entries. These are usually ultra-Orthodox, but not only. They do not account to anyone: not to us, Not to the army, they just go in."
We are sitting in the command and control headquarters of Shi District, Mashlat for short, which is on top of the mountain in area E1, almost exactly in the middle of Judea and Samaria.
The room is spacious and full of huge screens full of information.
Next to the wall sit the operators, some of whom are regular police officers, others are regular police officers, and answer the phones that come from anyone who dials 100 in the Judea and Samaria area. Three meters in - and you are in the "Citadel", the room specifically designed to deal with unusual, security or civilian situations. The existence of the Citadel It is one of the most important lessons from the kidnapping of the three boys - Gil-Ad Shaar, Naftali Frankel and Eyal Yafarah - which can be defined as the Day of Atonement of the Shi'i District.
It's chilling to think how close the event last August was to what happened that dark night in June 2014.
June 12, 2014. The time: 22:25
"Hello police, Udi," answered Udi Adri, then a police officer in the Shia Police Department, to the phone call.
On the other side there was silence for a moment and then the following chilling words: "I was kidnapped," said Gil-ad Shaar, one of the abductees, quietly.
Udi replies with "Hello", and immediately the terrorists are heard: "Head down! Head down!"
Then a bunch of gunshots and sounds of pain are heard.
The call lasted 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
After the terrorists shoot the hostages, they burst into shouts of joy.
"We brought three," shouts one, and another begins to sing.
"Answer my phone there, hello?", another policewoman is heard while in the background there are happy cheers and bursts of gunfire.
The police did not understand what was happening, and the call that was disconnected was defined as a harassment call and was abandoned, and the end is known.
The new command and control headquarters, where we sit, was inaugurated last June, as a lesson from that terrible failure.
The computers were upgraded, answering became critical, and every unanswered call is scrutinized with seven eyes.
"All the time the incident of the three boys runs through his mind," says Police Chief Ovadia. He is 50 years old, married and the father of two and lives in nearby Ma'ale Adumim. He has been in the police for 20 years and transferred to it from the Police in June 2000, four months before the October 2000 riots. This control room was built as part of the lessons of 'Shouvo Achiim'."
Operator Yael Lauper.
"It felt like a movie, a waste of time", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
August 30, 2022. The time: 3:08
"At the first moment when the call came from the guy in Nablus, I didn't understand exactly what was happening. He yells, 'They're shooting at me, we're in Nablus,' and the first thing that goes through your mind is, 'What did he say? What does Nablus have to do with it?'" Liron recalls that fateful conversation.
"What did you say, shooting at you?" asks Liron in the phone call.
"Yes, they are shooting at us," he replies and tells his friend, "I think terrorists have arrived in the car."
Liron tries to direct him.
"Where are you in Nablus? Do you have a smart phone?", she asks to send a tracking message so they know where they are.
The problem is that the five, all ultra-Orthodox, do not own smart phones but kosher phones.
The event became more complicated in an instant.
"I realize that I have an unusual event here and shout to my officer, 'Come quickly'. In the meantime, I hear him talking to his friends and he says, 'There are terrorists here'. It's crazy," she says.
Then came the second call.
"I can't speak, we're in Nablus. We've been shot at," said a young and extremely frightened voice in the earpiece of Colonel Sion Alharar (25).
"My shift started at half past nine," she says.
She is a permanent police officer and has already served as a dispatcher in the commandos for a year, out of a total of two years in the police. She, like the other dispatchers, lives in Ma'ale Adumim. "We go through a 20-minute briefing and then start a shift.
These are a little quieter hours, even though it is impossible to spread or fall asleep because we are always ready for some event that will surprise us.
The first call was answered by Liron, and after a few moments another call comes in and I answer.
He was a small boy, only 17 years old, and he got into a scary situation."
"Are you near Yosef's tomb? Are there any casualties?" Sivan is heard in the recording.
"Yes, yes, I was hurt, I was shot."
The young man explains that there were five of them who entered Nablus to enter Joseph's tomb.
This is a notorious phenomenon.
At the same time as the official, orderly entrances, Hasidim insist on entering Joseph's Tomb without coordination and without a military force accompanying them.
This is a clear and immediate danger to life.
In 2006, seven Hassidim who entered Nablus this way were injured.
In 2011, terrorists murdered Ben Yosef Livnet, Limor Livnet's nephew, while he was returning from a similar visit.
On July 15, 2022, terrorists shot at Hasidim near Joseph's Tomb.
Their car overturned and they managed to escape, only slightly injured.
The Israelis' vehicle was then set on fire - a very thick hint of what happened only a month and a half later.
"How many people are you there? Are you inside Joseph's tomb or outside?" Sivan tried to get details from the injured young man.
"Five, come quickly, come quickly," he replies in a trembling voice and his heart sinks.
"We're on our way, we're on our way. Stay on the line with me," Sion replies.
"Come quickly, come quickly," he replies, and she tries to calm him down and tell him that the army is also on its way.
"Come quickly, tell them to come quickly," says the young man under pressure.
"Do you have a place to hide until we arrive?" Sivan asks, and he replies: "No no no no, I'm not hanging up but please come already. Father, help me, father. God, help us!"
August 30, 2022. The time: 3:11
In the command post, which until a few minutes ago was calm and peaceful - God's commotion. Inspector Yael Laufer, the officer of the unit, takes command of the incident from the citadel. At the same time, the Ovadia Air Force Command is also updated, and then also the district commander, the commissioner and the commander of the Central Command. Also The details, which were confusing at first, are becoming clearer. Five Israelis, residents of the Jerusalem area and the center of the country, entered Nablus to pray at Joseph's tomb. Very close to the tomb, they opened fire on them, and they became separated from each other. There is contact with two, three more are separated.
"Two minutes after the first reporter called, another person called who reported the same incident, and that's how we realized that it was the same group that had split up. They were far from each other and did not see each other but simultaneously called our operators," Laufer recalls.
"You have to understand - it's inside Nablus, we can't send a mobile, so you have to pass all the relevant information to the military and the Shin Bet.
Even such an entry is not immediate, the preparation of the army is needed.
This is a danger to the forces."
The code "Hats Daruch" - which means Israeli citizens in Area A, the territories of the Palestinian Authority - was announced on the communication network of the IDF and the police. Meanwhile, documents from the event are beginning to be published on the network. In the heart of the square in front of Yosef's tomb, the Israelis' car can be seen stuck in a dirt embankment, apparently After they collided with it, and Palestinians stopped near it. A few minutes later, the black vehicle was already on fire, set on fire by the locals.
"At first I made sure he had a battery and asked if they had somewhere to hide," Liron recalls.
"He said that one of his friends was wounded and that they would hide among the thorns. Suddenly he whispers to me: 'Listen, I can't talk. They are getting closer, they are here, they are here'. The terrorists were looking for them. It was very stressful, because you fear that instead of helping, you Hurts them. I immediately told him to stop talking.
"No doubt, it was a very stressful conversation. You understand that no one has joined them yet and that the event can become even more unusual. During about 50 minutes of conversation, it is clear that I had moments of 'Mom, what a crazy event I am in' and how lucky That we are with them on the line and manage to pass the information on to the forces."
Meanwhile, in the second line, Sivan tries to calm down the injured 17-year-old.
"During most of the conversation he whispered, and I told him: 'If you can't talk - don't talk, but you're not hanging up on me.' The IDF will be able to get them in and get them out safe and sound - and also protect itself.
I heard a shot, and at some point they set their car on fire, right close to them."
The vehicle that was set on fire.
At first there was concern that one of the young men was inside, photo: according to Law 27 A
August 30, 2022. The time: 3:17
The minutes pass like an eternity.
This is an extremely unusual incident at Moked 100, since in the vast majority of cases similar to these, the army takes command of the incident in a very short time.
This time two operators and a police officer found themselves at the heart of the incident.
Aligning the forces, helping two Israelis in the field, when one of them is wounded, and hoping that the other three are fine without any information about their condition.
"We tried to survey the area according to the visual environment - to see what they see," explains operator Yael.
"We forwarded the information to the forces, to the Coordination and Liaison Administration that communicates with the Palestinian Authority and the army forces that know the area. The whole event was conducted simultaneously with the center - army, Shin Bet, police, MDA.
At some point, Yael tells Sivan that they must connect MDA to the guy. The 17-year-old groans in pain, and rescue is not yet in sight. "He suddenly said that he was tired, that it was hard for him to breathe and that he wanted to rest," says Sivan. A to explain to him what to do.
We asked where he was shot, and he said 'above the knee'.
You don't have to be a doctor to understand that a gunshot wound above the knee can be very problematic.
I brought up a drive from MDA, who explained to him how to make a tourniquet himself, because we don't know when they will get out of there and in what medical condition they will be."
In retrospect, the decision to perform a tourniquet may have saved his life.
"The boy was very frightened. The conversation was disconnected twice and we returned to him. It is understandable, he is also small and this situation is frightening for all ages. He did not cry but was very stressed, asked what to do. During most of the conversation he whispered, but he cooperated, realizing that he had to An answer," adds Sivan.
"I won't lie, I was nervous, I didn't know how this event would end. Yes, it's stressful. You don't want to fail, certainly in a situation like this."
Yael: "It felt like an eternity to us, exactly the way he felt. You feel the citizen on the line, and you cannot physically help him. You hold him on the line and he is dying of fear, he is in pain, he is bleeding, and you somehow keep him talking, transmitting Optimism that you're on your way to it. That was our job. My stress was mainly because I was waiting for the army's approval that he was entering. That's what interested me at that moment. At some point Sion tells me: 'He's no longer communicating with me'. I missed a beat. It stressed me out a lot I called the army again and pressed: come in already, come in, the man is not breathing."
"It was like a movie. I talked to him for long minutes. I speak, and he whispers back," says Liron.
"And they get closer, and then suddenly he tells me, 'Our vehicle is on fire.' I asked him if he happened to remember his vehicle number, and surprisingly he answered yes and started reciting the number. This helped the military force understand from which entrance to Nablus they entered. It's crazy. What is the chance that one out of five passengers will remember the number of the vehicle?"
The police incident log reveals the story minute by minute.
At 3:07 the first report is received, and a minute later the second report.
At 3:11 the army is updated, and about ten minutes later the Shin Bet is deep in the picture. Within five minutes, between 3:17 and 3:22, the driver explains to the 17-year-old how to carry out treatment in the field, and M. performs a roadblock for himself arteries
The drama is increasing by the minute.
"They are closing in on us," says one of the callers in panic, as the terrorists approach.
A minute later, at 3:29, their car goes up in flames.
Gunshots are heard in the background.
At 3:35, the Shomron regional division announces that a military force is on its way to Nablus, but three minutes later a report comes from one of the Israelis that makes the heart sink.
"One of our friends may be in the burned vehicle," he tells the operator.
For long minutes it is not at all certain whether all the Israelis are alive.
Reporters stay on the line.
The 17-year-old takes shallow breaths and finds it difficult to continue talking.
Sivan is in front of him, dubbing him, keeping him awake.
The older one, in the second line, directs the forces - right, left, come here, come here.
Soon it will be over.
Operators Sion (right) and Liron.
"What did you say, they are shooting at you?", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
August 30, 2022. Time: 3:56
"Do you have any strength?" asks Liron.
"Yes, yes. Two here, two here! We are five in total," the Israeli with whom she was on the line was heard shouting to the fighters.
It's easy to hear the palpable relief in his voice.
"I want you to point to the military force for the people who were with you, so that by mistake there is not one person who entered and did not leave," she adds, and he replies: "Check five. I know them. We are all together. I am with the military force. Thank you very much."
"I called the Israeli army, I explained to them that they were supposed to see them when they went in. I heard the helicopter in the background. That was the moment I realized that the incident was finally over. To hear that the guy who was seriously injured was rescued and is alive. I heard him talking to them, and the sense of relief is tremendous - I saved a life . I hung up, went to the commanding officer and told her, 'I need a break.'
Sivan: "The boy who was on the phone with me was conscious the whole time. Towards the end of the incident, because he was seriously injured, his breathing started to become very heavy. It was difficult for him to speak and he said it was difficult for him. He didn't really communicate, perhaps because he was afraid that someone would catch him And if he didn't have the strength anymore. At the end of the call he didn't hang up the phone and I heard the whole rescue. I heard him shout 'We're here, we're here, come on. Ai, ai, it hurts'. You hear it and get excited."
Yael: "It felt like a movie, what a waste of time. We heard everything. The forces reach them, the army tells us 'we are with them' and everything is recorded, like a live movie. It was a very challenging event, from the beginning, when one of the Israelis said they were shooting at him, until For the moment when the army says 'he is with me', then there is a sigh of relief. You should have seen what went on here. It was crazy, everyone was in a mess and this whole place was on its feet, and as soon as it was over it was an incredible relief."
At 4:16 in the morning, one hour and nine minutes after the initial report, a helicopter landed on the airstrip of the BHD 3 base. The five Israelis escaped the incident safely. The 17-year-old was taken to Tel Hashomer Hospital by helicopter in critical condition.
Another injured person was taken to Beilinson Hospital in moderate condition by an MDA intensive care vehicle with injuries to his limbs.
The other three remained unscathed, against all odds.
Fortunately, the report of a person remaining inside the burning vehicle turned out to be false.
"This event could have ended completely differently," says Ovadia.
"It could have ended in a kidnapping and God forbid the death of some of them. The incident lasted around 50 minutes, which is not a long time. It is very fortunate that the brigade is sitting right at the entrance to Nablus and quickly entered the area to rescue them. We could have had abductees, dead, and then we would have been in a completely different movie at the national level.
Ovadia Air Force Base. "They endangered themselves and the soldiers", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"The bottom line from this incident should be that every person who enters Area A is risking his life and should understand that he may die. These people endangered themselves and the soldiers. This is a serious incident that occurred because of the criminality and crime of people. When you endanger soldiers to save a person - you add a sin to Crime: You also endangered them, and they also will not be able to act at the same time in another place and save lives. If you ask me if we have learned the lesson - unfortunately the answer is no. Period."
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