A policeman who fought terrorists and saved civilians during the October 7 massacre died in the hospital on Saturday, police said in a statement.

Command Sgt. Maj. Itamar Alus died of an unspecified disease, according to Hebrew media.

Alus, an officer at the Netivot police station, left his home in southern Israel’s Ofakim with his handgun on October 7, 2023, upon hearing gunshots outside.

He then fought terrorists in the city and assisted the injured.

“God touched me that day,” he later told visitors in a YouTube video recounting October 7.

“We didn’t know what we were walking into that Saturday,” Alus recounted to Ynet in 2024. “Fifteen terrorists entered Ofakim in two pickup trucks.”

He continued, “I run home and grab my handgun. My wife stopped me — ‘Where are you going?’ I told her, ‘There’s gunfire outside, I’m going to check it out.’”

He soon encountered three gunmen firing at civilians, he told Arutz 2000 in a separate interview. He fired at the terrorists, hitting one in the leg and causing the other two to fire at him, which allowed the civilians to escape.

Alus said he then found a rabbi he knew, injured on the ground, who told him there was a terrorist in a nearby bomb shelter. Upon entering the shelter, he found a woman hiding with her husband, who had apparently been shot. Alus said he ripped........

© The Times of Israel