October 7th Massacre/Printable version

October 7th Massacre

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Preface

Bloodstains on a house in Be'eri after the October 7th Massacre

A burnt residential building in Be’eri after the Massacre

On Saturday, October 7th, 2023, Hamas together with other terrorist organizations launched a surprise attack from Gaza. The attack started with the launch of at least 3,000 rockets to Israel, as well as incursions. Hamas breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and massacred 1,139 people: 695 Israeli civilians (including 36 children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces. 250 Israeli civilians and hostages were taken, including women and children. There is also evidence of sexual assaults.

The day, which was labeled as the Black Saturday (Hebrew: השבת השחורה) or the Simchat Torah Massacre (הטבח בשמחת תורה), was labeled as the bloodiest in Israeli history, and the deadliest for the Jews since the Holocaust.

According to several international law and genocide studies experts, Hamas's assault amounted to genocide. Legal and genocide experts have condemned the attack, saying it represents a serious violation of international law. They argue that Hamas carried out these actions with the intent to destroy the Israeli national group. Some commentators point to Hamas's founding charter, which advocates for the destruction of Israel, contains antisemitic language, and, according to certain researchers, implies a call for the genocide of Jews. This has led to suggestions that the 7 October attacks were an effort to fulfill this agenda.

This wikibook is intended to summarize the events that happened during the Black Friday in the communities impacted by this attack.

Alumim

Kibbutz Alumim is famous for its white houses, rows of handsome winged trees, and well-kept wide green lawns. The Kibbutz however looked very different after the events of October 7th. Abandoned vehicles were scattered, some of them were burned, and others pierced by bullets. On the night of Simchat Torah the Kibbutz members attended synagogue and did not suspect what was about to happen in less than 12 hours.

A terrorist who participated in the attack on Alumim and was arrested by arrested by the security forces told that the Hamas leaders commanded to commit atrocities including murder and rape. He admitted the plan was to go from house to house, from room to room, throw grenades, and kill everyone including women and children. The Hamas also approved abusing and dismembering the dead bodies.

On October 7th at 6:30 in the morning The holiday peace was disturbed by alarms and intense explosions from the Iron Dome batteries in the area. The residents got out from their beds and went to their shelters. Being accustomed to such events, they were not excited, however this time it was not as usual - the alarms went on and on.

When Rafi Babian, a resident of Alumim as well as security officer of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, heard the alarms and the Iron Done batteries nonstop, he understood that something out of the ordinary is happening. So he made sure his family was in the shelters, and organized to go to the council's headquarters to activate the emergency center. He approached the Saad junction, and saw there a bullet-ridden car. The driver waved with his injured hand and yelled that there are terrorists in the junction. As he got closer, he saw a van with a machine gun shooting everyone in the area. The junction was full of people running away from the music festival in Re’im forest in their way north. They stopped on the sideways due to alarms, and Rafi started sending them east since it was impossible to pass the junction.

At 6:45, the army ordered to raise the standby squad. At 7:00, ten terrorists arrived at the main gate on motorcycles. They rode to the back gate, and broke in. Once in, the terrorists started shooting indiscriminately at vehicles that passed. They hit about 20 cars. Two of them stormed the cars and shot the passengers. One of the terrorists got hit, either by from one of his friends or by a soldier. This group of terrorists retreated.

At 8:00, terrorists were detected at the residence of the foreign workers. The standby squad started shooting at them, however the terrorists entered the residence and started murdering the Nepalese and Thai workers. 16 of them were killed and 8 were taken hostages to Gaza. Eyal Rein, the security coordinator of the kibbutz, testified: “Unfortunately, we were unable to save them. They are our employees, we know each and every one by name.”

At 8:30, the terrorists set on fire the nearby milking parlor, and murdered all of the dairy workers. The haystacks were also set on fire. 700 cows were left without milking or food. Some of them died when the roof collapsed. Cows that are not milked develop inflammations and infections. At 8:45, the terrorists destroyed a shed with equipment worth hundreds thousands of shekels.

A report was received at 9:00 about terrorists in Gan Hadar at the western part of the Kibbutz. The standby squad hurried to the area. Zvika, who directed the operation from the command room in the heart of the kibbutz, told the following about the battle:

There began the heroic battle of the squad against dozens of terrorists who tried to break out from there towards the kibbutz houses. We managed to kill two terrorists, including the commander of the force, and prevent the terrorists from entering the houses. If they crossed that line, God forbid, there would be a disaster like in the other kibbutzim.

Eyal testified about the battle:

The terrorists broke through the fence and entered the kibbutz. Here we were already in front of them. This battle saved the kibbutz. We spotted a terrorist - we shot, we spotted another one - we shot. They shot at us. We managed to take down the first, followed by the second. The third tried to retreat towards the plantation. We took some friends up to the top floor of the prep school, and from there we were able to snipe at them. In this battle we killed three terrorists. In total we killed 15-20 terrorists and more. Some of them were discovered only the next day in all kinds of places.

Zvika added:

In this battle, three members of the squad were injured. One of them received a bullet in the chest and turned back to receive treatment at the clinic. The other was slightly injured. A third member, Eran, said 'I was hurt but I keep fighting'. He continued for another two hours until we evacuated him.

Michaela works as a midwife in Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, however on this day, she worked as a medic on a battlefield. She testified about the events:

I heard a shot but ran to get a first aid kit. I was operating on automatic and I didn't think about the fact that I was putting myself at risk. If I knew what was going on under my house, it is not clear if I would function. They brought the first wounded man and I see that it is my neighbor. I started to treat him and saw an injury to his hands, a bullet or shrapnel. After half an hour they brought another wounded man, much more seriously, with three gunshot wounds in the back. I called the doctor to get instructions. My husband and my father-in-law, an IDF invalid from the six days, who did not agree to stay in the shelter, helped me. He helped me, washed the wounded and helped put them in the evacuation vehicle.

Preparations were made for evacuating the wounded, and one of the members took his personal car and drove with a medic to Netivot. On the way out, they got shot by terrorists and the medic was slightly injured. At 11:30, another injured person came to Michaela’s house. This was Eran, who as mentioned above kept on fighting even after his injury. Michaela told about him:

He continued to fight for another four hours with three bullets in his thigh. At first he didn't feel hurt because of the adrenaline in his blood. I forced him to evacuate. My husband gave me his personal weapon and said 'let my father watch over you'. He loaded Eran onto the car and started driving. When he reached Netivot, the brakes and the engine began to emit smoke, and they were extinguished with a fire extinguisher. After Eran was evacuated to Soroka, my husband had to wait three hours until they let him come back.

After this battle, the squad started searching for any remaining terrorists.

At 12:00, another terrorist group was identified on cameras, this time in the avocado groves in the west of the Kibbutz. The squad arrived to the area and they were assisted by soldiers in an armored vehicle who arrived.

At 12:15, one of the residents reported the injury of her husband. The couple was in the shelter when terrorists started shooting at their doors. Soldiers rushed and eliminated these terrorists. Another terrorist shot at another house and the resident was injured by the shrapnel.

Two terrorists who didn't manage to cross the fence returned to the plantations. In the scans anothe terrorist was found lying and waiting. He raised his hands and was taken by the soldiers.

At 12:30, dozens of other terrorists arrived at the Kibbutz. This time to the packing house at the south-east of the Kibbutz. A helicopter eliminated most of them.

Re’im Music Festival

Supernova Sukkot Gathering was a weekend-long outdoor trance music festival that began on 6 October 2023 and was produced by an organizer called Nova (also referred to as Tribe of Nova). It was the Israeli edition (pre-festival event) of Universo Paralello, a psychedelic trance festival started 23 years prior in Bahia, Brazil. It took place in the western Negev desert, approximately 5 km from the Gaza–Israel barrier, near kibbutz Re'im.

At 6:22, alarms were heard in the party, where 4,400 people were present. At 6:24, the district commander decided to close the party, and the police started evacuation. Meanwhile, terrorists infiltrated the complex, and at 6:27 started shooting at Re’im junction. The commander of the station and an officer who was in the area returned fire. At 8:00, the Yamas police unit joined to the fighting. The terrorists also entered the nearby kibbutz Re’im. At 8:30, Yoav unit joined the battle. At 9:00, the Israeli Border Police started evacuating injured people, and at 10:03 a multiple casualty incident was declared. At 14:00, the police declared full control on the party complex. 364 civilians were murdered in the party complex, 40 were taken as hostages. 15 policemen were killed in the battle as well as in the process of evacuating civilians. In the nearby kibbutz Re’im, the battle continued until 21:00.

On the morning of October 8th, a woman who was searching her friend in the aftermath of the festival filmed a video which later became viral and was known as “the woman in the black dress”. In the video, a woman was seen lying on her back with her dress torn. Her face was unrecognizable and her eyes were covered by her right hand. Many people commented, trying to figure out if the woman is their relative. Her family recognized her as Gal, who was murdered in the festival with her husband. When terrorists approached her while she was stuck in a traffic jam of people trying to flee the festival, she wrote her last WhatsApp message to her family: “You don’t understand”.

Israeli police officials believe that Gal was raped, a claim supported by video evidence and verified by the New York Times. Sexual assaults by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women were not isolated events but a general pattern which repeated in all places they attacked.

Sapir, an accountant, has been one of the key witnesses. She recounted the events to investigators as well as to the New York Times. On October 7th at 8 AM, she was near route 232 and 4 miles southwest of the party, bonding under the branches of a bushy tamarisk tree. She fell faint after getting shot in the back. After that she covered herself with dry grass and laid still.

Cars, motorcycles, and trucks pulled up near the hiding place. She testified seeing about 100 men getting out of the vehicles. They passed assault rifles, grenades, and small missiles, and attacked women.

A young woman with copper hair was the first victim Sapir witnessed. Her pants were pushed down to her knees and blood ran down her back. One man pulled her hair and forced her to bend over, while another penetrated her and stabbed her every time she flinched.

Another woman, who also got raped by a terrorist, was “shredded into pieces” by another one who sliced off her breast. They started to throw her breast and play with it until it fell in the road. They then sliced her face, and the woman fell out of view. She provided photographs, and police officials who heard the testimony released a video with her face blurred. A 22-year old security consultant named Yura can be seen in one of Sapir's photos hiding in the same spot. He didn’t lift his head much, but also describes terrorists raping and murdering women.

Sapir can hardly sleep since this day. She frequently wakes up at night covered in sweat and with her heart beating. She also struggles with a painful rash that spread across her torso. She told about this day the following:

That day, I became an animal. I was emotionally detached, sharp, just the adrenaline of survival. I looked at all this as if I was photographing them with my eyes, not forgetting any detail. I told myself: I should remember everything.

During the same morning, a young Israeli by the name of Raz Cohen, who also took part in the festival, was hiding in another location near Route 233. He hid in a dried-up streambed about a mile southwest of the party area. He saw a white van pull up in front of him, and 5 men in civilian clothes dragged a young naked woman out of the van. All the terrorists carried knives, and one of them carried a hammer. Raz testified the following:

They all gather around her. She’s standing up. They start raping her. I saw the men standing in a half circle around her. One penetrates her. She screams. I still remember her voice, screams without words. Then one of them raises a knife, and they just slaughtered her.

One of Raz’s friends by the name of Shoam Gueta also hid in the same streambed. He testified seeing at least 4 men getting out of the van and attacking a woman. They were giggling, talking, and shouting. One of them repeatedly stabbed her and “literally butchering her”.

The first volunteer medical arrived at the site hours later. They testified seeing dead bodies of women without underwear and with their legs spread. Some of them were tied. Jamal Waraki, a ZAKA volunteer could not get the image of a woman with her hands tied, half naked, with her underwear below her knees, and bent over.

Yinon Rivlin, one of the producers of the festival, lost 2 brothers in it. He hid from the terrorists, and later went to the parking to search for survivors. He saw near the highway a young woman with no underway or pants, lying on her stomach with her legs spread apart. Her vagina area was slashed open.

Sderot

Sderot, a city of more than 30,000 people, was struck by rockets at 6:30 in the morning of October 7th. Hamas gunmen entered the town and engaged in firefights with local police units and civilians. Many civilians were murdered on the street and in homes in the surprise attack. The residents of the city received instructions to lock the doors and windows of their homes, and not to open the door when knocked.

On the same day, a group of 13 elderly people were on the way to a vacation in the Dead Sea. According to the report by two surviving individuals, a wheel of their minibus was punctured on the way, so they stopped in Sderot. When they heard an alarm, they ran to a locked shelter and thus remained outdoors. The survivors describe two white vans containing gunmen who shot at them. One of the survivors reportedly lay on the ground near a woman who was shot, where he pretended to be dead. The second survivor from the group, a worker from Moldova named Nikolai, ran to the house of a local family after the first alarms, and stayed there for nearly 2 days.

Reuven, a police volunteer testified about these events. After the first alarm, he reported seeing a minibus near the library with one wheel missing, and many old people near a locked shelter. After seeing a van shoot at them, he returned fire and survived. He later took shelter in another house before joining Shin Bet forces in the area. They reported witnessing dead bodies near the road and searching for attackers.

Keren Roitman Hazan, a 35 year-old Sderot resident, said she heard the first alarms, which went on for 20 minutes, while preparing for her morning jog. She took videos of assailants riding in the city, as well as images of the elderly people murdered near the library, before taking shelter with her children. The following day, rockets hit the electricity and water infrastructure, with the cellular infrastructure already hit already the previous day. She therefore fled in their car with her children, instructing them to lower their heads below the window line and cover them with pillows. She testified to seeing many cars covered in blood and getting shot at while driving.

Assailants also attacked the police station of Sderot, and there was heavy fighting. At one point the fighters from the police station reportedly called, saying, “we are both seriously injured, there are terrorists on the roof with us. We are in combat. We are out of ammunition.” The fighting intensified both on the roof and near the entrance of the police station, continuing for 24 hours, after which the assailants eventually took control of the police station. A decision was made to demolish the station, and a heavy exchange of fire started after a bulldozer started demolishing parts of the station. The station eventually caught fire. IDF tanks as well as other armored vehicles were brought to the area.

It was suspected that the last terrorist in the station managed to escape, and on the morning of October 8th, the mayor instructed residents to stay locked in their homes. After the attackers were eliminated, Hamas continued firing rockets nonstop on Sderot. The residents were later evacuated to hotels in the Dead Sea, Eilat, and Jerusalem.