This morning caught the residents of the kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip by complete surprise, and the unimaginable events that took place there are difficult to explain in words.
The entry of terrorists from the Gaza Strip into the envelope
Two residents, from different kibbutzim, want to tell about the moments of terror and the many hours that the residents dealt with the total chaos alone, when the army does not arrive and it is not clear what is happening.
One kibbutz chief told the Soroka Hospital yard that he himself was shot and held the safe room door for many hours: "At first there were two, three who were shooting and we could have overcome them. Eight of us left the alert squad, and suddenly dozens came on vans, with anti-tank missiles and mags, and fired. They burned down the entire kibbutz, burned houses with people inside. They burned cars."
Terrorists who infiltrated the Gaza envelope with an IDF jeep, photo: AFP
"I was shot in the waist. It happened in the morning and it wasn't until five o'clock that I was evacuated. I left my wife and children there," he added, adding, "The terrorists are with us at home, knocking on the door, shooting, shooting RPGs at the car. Motorcycle vans arrived, and I with an M.16 and 30 bullets. People locked themselves and burned their houses on them. We shot, we shot, we shot."
Chairman of Kibbutz Dunit and Nir Oz, a mother of two sons, says: "My two sons, 12 and 16, were kidnapped. I want you to understand the gravity of the situation. The communities here are dismantled. There is a complete absence of information. The IDF took many hours to arrive. The situation here is a disaster. A catastrophe from which the envelope will not recover."
IDF forces deployed in the envelope, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"We must succeed in releasing the civilian abductees immediately. And we must organize to see how our fragmented communities are restored to functioning. We've been trapped in the safe room since 6:30 A.M. This is not what a state's solidarity with its citizens looks like. Sorry for the manifesto, I'm gutted and excited."
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