Driving south on Route 232, known as ‘The Bloody Road’ since the attacks on October 7, 2023, we passed signs pointing in the direction of kibbutzim, towns and cities, which became infamous in the aftermath of the war. Alumim, Saad, Kfar Aza, Netivot, Kerem Shalom. Then we arrived, Kibbutz Be’eri.

I had been to the ‘Otef’  (Gaza Envelope) several times since Simchat Torah, alone and with organized tours, but at those times, Be’eri was not allowing visitors to enter. As they prepare to destroy the remains of the ravaged neighborhoods, in order to rebuild, they have started to allow visits by organized groups, so that the world can see, first hand, just a small piece of what happened there that day.

Leading the tour was N. a company commander of the paratroopers who found himself called from the final week of training his company of 120 brand new soldiers, most of whom were about 18 years old and had never seen combat. They were based at the Dead Sea the morning of the 7th, but he answered a call from another officer who simply said, ‘we are at war in the south, prepare your soldiers and come’. N. instructed his soldiers to prepare their gear, and called for transport. He had them each send a text message to their families (who assumed they were ‘training’ in the area of the Dead Sea) that they would be unavailable for a while, and then N. collected their phones. He needed them focused on the mission, even though at this time, he himself still did not know what the mission actually was. Waiting for transportation for his 120 soldiers, N. set off in his vehicle with a small force of soldiers, while the rest waited with his Deputy for transport to the South.  The drive which should have taken 1 1/2 hours, took him 20 minutes as he hurried to the area, trying to get a sit-rep the entire way, but there was no information to be had. As his soldier drove, N opened ‘telegram’ which was the only place where he was able to get some idea of the horrors that were taking place. (Hamas was posting livestream updates of their pillaging) Ultimately he received an order to go fight the terrorists who had infiltrated Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and so he did, together with the  3 soldiers who accompanied him. There they fought straight for 8 hours until he left for Be’eri.

Meanwhile the remaining 110 soldiers were brought by helicopter to the area, and touched down near Kibbutz Alumim. After they disembarked, the helicopter was hit with an RPG; this was how these 18 year old soldiers saw their first combat and began to get some idea of what they were heading into. As they stood in shock near Kibbutz Alumim, a policman told them there was a massacre occuring in Kibbutz Be’eri, so under the command of N’s deupty, they marched  4 km on Rte 232 towards Be’eri. The group arrived in Be’eri about 2:00 pm, 7 hours after Hamas had captured it.  Upon their arrival they entered the ‘miguniot’ (shelters set up along the roads and in the yishuvim) and helped to rescue terrified citizens who had taken

shelter there. As they approached the fence to the Kibbutz, a policeman told N’s deputy commander not to enter; it was too dangerous. Nevertheless the deputy led his soldiers into the kibbutz, determined to resuce civilians and stop the terror which Hamas was reining down on them.  As the deputy and his 110 soldiers began to work their way through the kibbutz, hundreds of residents were trapped in their homes, barricaded into their shelters.

One such resident, I. met with us and told his story. On Simchat Torah, the Kibbutz was marking 70 years to the establishment of Be’eri. There were many guests there for the occasion. When they awoke to the sound of rockets  before 7:00 am they  entered their shelters and expected to be there for an hour or two; they did not go in prepared to spend 17 hours fighing for their lives. At 10:00 the power went out and they were left in total darkness for the entire time.   They understood ‘some’ terrorists infeltrated the Kibbutz;  they thought that meant 3 or 4 in one home, only later did they come to know that 350-550 Hamas terrorists were in control of the Kibbutz until about 2:00 pm when the IDF arrived and started to fight them.   These terrorists were dressed in IDF uniforms, with the addition of the green headband of Hamas.  Three hours after I. and his family entered the shelter, terrorists entered their home. They would remain there until shortly before 12 midnight, when the IDF soldiers would arrive to rescue them. I. was in his shelter together with his wife and one son, and a guest, a ‘lone soldier’ in the IDF. They spent the next 17 hours taking turns holding the shelter door closed, while the terrorists repeatedly tried to open it from the outside. They listened while the Hamas invaders destroyed their home (and later discovered that ‘for the fun of it’ while they literally held on to the door for their lives,  the terrorists made themselves comfortable in their home and made repeated purchases on I.’s family’s credit cards, which they found as they looted his home, from online stores in Saudia Arabia)

However I. repeatedly says he is ‘lucky’. His family is alive, and while he heard his neighbors being shot and smelled their homes being burnt, I.’s home was ‘just’ ransacked; his family was terrorized but not killed and not kidnapped.

At around 2:00 N. arrived to take command of his soldiers after fighing in Kfar Aza. They were going from house to house, in the first house they rescued a woman hiding there, in the next house there were 4 terrorists who shot a RPG at them wounding 4 soldiers. This was a ‘regular’ force of soldiers, not specially trained in rescue operations… They had to regroup and try to come up with a plan. What saved them was the arrival of S. with a tank. It is not clear to N. where S. came from; he was not  part of a larger force, there was no command telling him to show up, he came and said to N. “tell me where you want me”. Together, they managed to clear more homes and help restore some of the morale of the soldiers who had come to fight but were not properly equipped…

Maayan and Yuval Bar H”YD were murdered in their home  in Be’eri(pictured below) at 10:00 am while they were speaking to family on the phone. Hamas took over their home after and used it to stage a major ambush on N.’s group of soldiers. At the same time a terrorist hiding in a house across the street shot an RPG at the approaching soldiers. The battle in the Bar home ended after several soldiers were killed and others badly wounded; and 13 terrorists who were hiding there, killed by N.’s forces. The family has set up the home as a temporary ‘museum’ with many photos of the murdered family members and the soldiers who fell there. This home will also be dismanteled next month as the Kibbutz members voted not to leave any of the homes which were destroyed in battle, standing.

Maayan and Yuval Bar’s kitchen became the site of a fierce battle, as a terrorist hid in a back room and an officer led his troops to rescue an injured officer in the house.

As we prepared to leave, I remarked to I. that this was my version of a “Poland trip’. Most Israeli children, my own included, visit Poland during high school, to see, experience and remember the atrocities of the Holocaust. I have never been to Poland, but have visited various sites in the Otef with various guides, because I feel strongly that we need to see, we need to remember. I. replied to me that the difference between the Holocaust and the horrific attacks in the Otef, is that now, we have the IDF.  Baruch Hashem (thank G-d) for that. Am Yisrael Chai!

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