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.

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With planes and other advanced equipment, nine firefighting teams battled a huge fire on Saturday caused by Palestinian terrorists using an airborne incendiary device.

By: World Israel News Staff

On Saturday, terrorists in the Gaza Strip targeted Israel communities with incendiary kites, causing two major fires.

One of the fires, near Kibbutz Or Haner, burned out of control, requiring nine firefighting teams and firefighting aircraft, reported Channel 10 news.

The other fire was ignited near Kibbutz Nir Am.

Arson terror has become increasingly popular among Palestinian rioters near the Gaza border, who start fires by floating incendiary devices into Israeli territory using kites and helium balloons, the gas for which is reportedly pilfered from Gaza hospitals.

To date, Palestinian arson terrorists have caused millions of dollars of damage in Israel, destroying thousands of acres of farmland and nature preserves.

This Friday, demonstrations were staged on both sides of the Gaza border.

While thousands of Israelis peacefully rallied for the return of two IDF soldiers’ remains held by Hamas, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, Palestinians amassed within Gaza to continue the Hamas-orchestrated violent rioting organized under the “March of Return” banner.

The Palestinians’ tactics during the campaign have included planting plain-clothes Hamas commandos among civilian rioters, paying a family to lie and say that Israeli tear gas killed an 8-month-old baby, a fabrication later refuted by a Palestinian doctor, and claiming that IDF snipers shot a paraplegic protester, despite conflicting reports within the Palestinian media that cast serious doubt on the circumstances surrounding his death.

One Palestian reportedly died this week during the riots, killed when an improvised explosive detonated in his hand.

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