Desperate battle to stop October 7 slaughter: New footage reveals fight to reopen Route 232

New footage reconstructs the battle to stop Hamas terrorists from moving northward towards central Israel, and to reopen Route 232 during the October 7 attack.

By World Israel News Staff

Newly released footage and radio communications have provided a detailed reconstruction of the efforts by Israeli security forces on October 7, 2023, to prevent invading Hamas terrorists from moving northward into Israel’s densely populated heartland.

Over the weekend, Channel 13 published video and audio recordings from fighting around the Black Arrow memorial and Mefalsim Junction on October 7, showing how Israeli forces gradually broke Hamas ambushes along Route 232 and reopened a key road into the Gaza border communities.

The newly released material traces the battle from the opening minutes of the Hamas-led invasion, when terrorists crossed the Gaza border in vehicles and on motorcycles and moved toward the Black Arrow memorial, Mefalsim and Sha’ar HaNegev Junction.

At approximately 6:29 a.m., as the attack began, Israeli troops in the area identified terrorist vehicles crossing the border.

Within minutes, terrorists had reached Route 232, the main north-south road serving communities along the Gaza border.

Terrorist squads established positions along the road and opened fire on passing vehicles.

The attacks turned sections of Route 232 into ambush zones and prevented Israeli military and rescue forces arriving from the north from moving freely into areas under attack.

Hundreds of people fleeing the Nova music festival also attempted to use roads in the area.

Some encountered terrorists around the Mefalsim bend and Black Arrow memorial, where numerous civilians were killed.

A later IDF investigation found that roughly 200 terrorists entered the wider Mefalsim, Black Arrow and Sha’ar HaNegev area in three waves during the attack.

The first wave included approximately 30 terrorists moving toward Mefalsim and another 50 attacking the junction and Black Arrow area.

Another group of roughly 80 arrived around 7:30 a.m., with some taking up ambush positions along the road.

At Sha’ar HaNegev Junction, terrorists began firing on civilian vehicles shortly after 7 a.m. Israeli forces arriving in the area were also attacked, complicating efforts to send reinforcements south.

Fighting was simultaneously taking place at Mefalsim itself, where the local security team confronted terrorists attempting to enter the community.

Around 30 terrorists eventually entered the kibbutz through its main gate and seized 12 foreign workers. The workers were later rescued after YAMAM and Shin Bet forces reached the area and fought the terrorists holding them.

The subsequent military investigation concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to defend Kibbutz Mefalsim and the surrounding area,” while crediting the local security team and security forces with preventing a substantially larger attack. The situation remained particularly dangerous around the Black Arrow memorial.

Beginning at approximately 6:45 a.m., terrorists used the area to establish ambushes along Route 232. Israeli forces from several units later converged on the road as they attempted to clear it and reach communities farther south.

One officer who later described entering the area recalled the scale of the destruction.

“Route 232 was full of bodies and burned-out vehicles,” he said.

Maglan troops and other forces began searching sections of the road and engaging terrorist squads during the morning. Yahalom, YAMAM, Shin Bet personnel and additional units subsequently joined the fighting.

At around 10:30 a.m., terrorists positioned south of the Mefalsim bend opened fire on a YAMAM force traveling from the kibbutz. Additional Israeli troops arriving at the scene joined the battle.

Maj. Tal Grushka, a company commander in the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, was mortally wounded during the fighting after intervening as terrorists fired on another Israeli force.

Additional reinforcements reached the Black Arrow area shortly after 11 a.m., including forces from Duvdevan, Maglan, Yahalom and special police units.

Israeli aircraft also began striking groups of terrorists approaching the area. At approximately 11:20 a.m., about 10 terrorist vehicles moving toward Black Arrow were hit or forced back by airstrikes.

The IDF investigation later concluded that the aerial attacks were effective in stopping further terrorist advances. By the early afternoon, Israeli forces had substantially regained control of the central road network in the area and broken the ambushes that had restricted movement along Route 232.

The fighting nevertheless continued beyond October 7. Israeli troops spent the following three days searching the surrounding fields, wooded areas and roads for terrorists who remained inside Israel.

Additional clashes occurred on October 8, 9 and 10 before the military declared the area cleared.

The broader battle around Mefalsim, Black Arrow and Sha’ar HaNegev left 77 civilians dead along Route 232 and the surrounding area, according to the military investigation. Thirteen members of the security forces were also killed.

Among those killed in the fighting were Shin Bet operational unit deputy commander Yossi Tahar and Grushka, along with IDF soldiers and YAMAM officers.

The investigation found that Israeli forces had been deployed according to assumptions centered on limited, localized infiltrations rather than an attack involving thousands of terrorists crossing the border at numerous locations simultaneously.