As the details of the fighting on the first day of the horrific surprise attack on Israel on the morning of Sukkot become clearer, the heroic stories of the IDF fighters are being revealed. Here are five of them, out of many that will be told.
Staff Sergeant (Res.) D', a combat soldier in the Lutar unit
When the fighting began, Staff Sergeant D. strove for contact and reached Kibbutz Be'eri. When he arrived, he saw a burning house in front of him, and immediately approached it to see if there were people inside, discovered an elderly couple inside and rescued them alone from the burning house while calming them calmly.
Subsequently, Staff Sergeant D., together with his unit and forces from Shayetet 13, encountered terrorists. During the fighting, he was wounded in the legs by three bullets, and while under fire D. performed a tourniquet for himself while his friends held his legs.
At the same time, he continued to shoot and fight bravely, while the commander of his unit and other fighters around him were killed, and only at the end of the incident was he rescued to Soroka Hospital.
Documentation: Terrorist who tried to return to the Gaza Strip from Israeli territory prevented | Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Staff Sergeant Y., a soldier in the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit
Staff Sergeant Y. was at a Sufa post when terrorists raided it. After the company commander was killed in the encounter, Y. took charge on his shoulders and led the encounter with the terrorists. Together with three of his friends, he managed to prevent about 20 terrorists from entering and breaking through the main gate.
However, the terrorists managed to break through the rear security guard, and while fighting against them, Y. served as a directing force for combat helicopters that arrived to reinforce and help, and managed the direction of the reinforcing forces. After the forces joined them, and following the wounding of his friend by gunfire, Y. went to rescue him and evacuated the company commander who had been killed near the post together with his two friends.
Staff Sergeant Y.'s heroism and resourcefulness were already proven in the past, when he neutralized the terrorists in an incident in which Maj. Bar Falah was killed – an incident for which Y. received a citation for his action.
Major A., company commander in the Magellan unit
Immediately after hearing about the suspected infiltration of the terrorists, Major A went independently to the city of Sderot and even picked up a Border Police soldier with him on his way there. When they arrived in the city, A. saw two girls hiding and did not think twice: he immediately brought them the keys to his car and told them: "Take him and drive away."
Major A then went to search Moshav Yachini and encountered terrorists. He managed to neutralize two of them, but was wounded by a bullet in his hand and abdomen. A. is currently hospitalized and his condition is listed as stable.
Lieutenant A., team commander in the Egoz unit
Lieutenant A had already "closed" for the weekend in Judea and Samaria, when he was unexpectedly dispatched at 06:30 the next day together with his team to the Egoz unit to the envelope sector – straight to the Kissufim outpost. When they arrived at the post and realized that 15 terrorists had captured spotters in the rooms and in the war room, A. decided that he and his team had to fight and gain control of the post.
During a battle that lasted several hours, A. and his team managed to take over the outpost, eliminate all the terrorists and rescue the spotters. But the battle took a heavy toll: three of A.'s soldiers were killed and he himself was wounded by a bullet that penetrated from the shoulder to the abdomen.
Sergeant Habib Tayab, 80th Sergeant Sergeant
On Saturday morning, Sergeant Habib Tayeb arrived at Kibbutz Sufa, together with the deputy commander of the 80th Division, the commander of Lutar Eilat and three Lutar fighters, during a battle with terrorists at the Sufa outpost. The fighters were the only ones on the kibbutz, and for many hours they repelled and fought with terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz.
With only small arms in their hands, Habib and the force fought against dozens of terrorists and managed to repel them until additional reinforcements of Eilat Lutar fighters arrived.
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