IDF: Kibbutz Erez saved from massacre by civilians, not army

The emergency squads of Erez and neighboring Kibbutz Or Haner fought off more than two dozen terrorists on October 7.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Kibbutz Erez was saved from a massacre during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023 by the heroism of civilians and not by the IDF, an army investigation concluded in a damning report published Tuesday.

While the sector’s company commander ordered a tank to stand between the border fence and the kibbutz when the mass launch of rockets from Gaza commenced at 6:29 a.m. and its crew fought off the first wave of terrorists, it was hit by anti-tank fire and later instructed to go to the aid of a different kibbutz that was also under threat.

The IDF commander had also immediately warned the head of the 16-man emergency squad, Ohr Chava, who was in Jerusalem at the time and  immediately informed his team as he headed back to the kibbutz.

The former security chief, Ben Sadan, was on site, however, and by 6:48 he deployed the men into defensive positions around the kibbutz.

The report noted the importance of the fact that most of the men had their weapons with them at home, enabling them to quickly arrive where they were needed with proper equipment.

Critically, they had also kept up with their preparedness training.

Fifteen minutes later, one group identified suspicious trucks approaching their back entrance, called the Blue Gate, and fired at them, and Sadan ordered the rest of the squad to reinforce the position.

This decision and Sadan’s leadership under fire, said the report, enabled the squad and other residents who joined them to prevent the first wave of Hamas terrorists from entering the kibbutz, thereby saving dozens of lives.

The fierce battle that ensued at the gate lasted almost three hours.

Around 7:45, the kibbutz’s only fatality occurred, as Maj. (res.) Amir Naim was mortally wounded during the fighting.

At this point, Chava, who had been in contact with his team, sent a plea for help to his counterpart in neighboring Kibbutz Or Haner.

Over the next hour, several members of Or Haner arrived and at about 8:45, help rescue their besieged friends while under intense fire.

Around 9 a.m., with the aid of a drone, another group of terrorists is spotted trying to infiltrate from a different point in the fence, and both emergency squad members and ordinary kibbutzniks rush to beat them off as well.

Only some 45 minutes after the battle was over at 10 a.m. did the first army units show up. They helped the residents search for other terrorists and evacuate to the hospital several people who had been wounded in the fighting.

The report noted that the air force did prevent further waves of attacks with the help of their UAV teams in the border area, but gave full credit to the civilian forces that protected the kibbutz when the professional army failed to do so.

“Their courageous fighting, their striving for contact, and brotherhood prevented a killing spree in the kibbutz,” the report stated.

It calculated that the heroic squads and residents stopped between 15-20 heavily armed terrorists from perpetrating the kind of massacre in Kibbutz Erez that unfortunately took place in many other places that day.

Hamas terroristsIDFInfiltratorsKibbutz Or HanerOctober 7th