Two Gaza border kibbutzim have installed commercially available lockable, bulletproof doors in residents’ protected rooms, in the absence of any similar product developed and approved by the Home Front Command to date.

The Israel Defense Forces says the door, developed by Elidor Industries in consultation with the Home Front Command’s ballistics experts, has been approved for use in guard booths, but not for protected rooms. This is because it has not been tested for shockwaves emanating from a missile attack.

The manufacturer says the new door was designed for bullets, not for shockwaves, and can be installed in the same reinforced door frame, behind the existing door, which is approved by the Home Front Command for missile attacks and blast waves.

On October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza border and streamed into Israeli homes looking for people to murder and abduct, the blast-proof doors became a vulnerability. This was largely because they had no locks to give emergency personnel easy access in case of a missile strike.

Of the 1,200 killed on October 7, most of them civilians, some were shot dead through safe room doors as they battled with terrorists on the other side to keep the door handles in the closed position (when asked how many people had been killed this way, the IDF chose not to comment). Many others were taken hostage when terrorists managed to break through.

One of the victims was Maayan Idan, 18, of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, who was helping her father Tsachi keep the door closed when Hamas bullets penetrated the door and killed her.

Nahal Oz member Oshrit Sabag, who is still in temporary rented accommodation in south central Israel with her husband and son, but who intends to return home, told The Times of Israel that the safe rooms from which people were evacuated in the aftermath of the Hamas attack had not changed since.

“What has changed is that we decided as a kibbutz to install bulletproof doors that can also be locked,” she explained. “There’s safety, and there’s feeling safe. Someone [who wishes to remain anonymous] helped the kibbutz to find donations, and the project is ongoing.”

The kibbutz began installing bulletproof doors in........

© The Times of Israel