User:Ayenaee/Alumim research

=Alumumim research=

Rewrite complete
I have completed the rewrite of the body of the article. I don’t expect to do any more major editing from now.
 * If there are minor corrections (spelling, grammar, formatting etc) you want to make please make them directly to the article.
 * Any other changes should be brought to this talk page for discussion and consensus. I don’t think WP:BRD will work on these kinds of page because of their sensitive nature and misunderstandings that can occur (IMHO not a wiki rule).

I have made the following major changes to the article body:
 * Inserted citations and rewritten the text to reflect what’s in these.
 * Changed wording to be more reflective of neutral Wikipedia voice.
 * In rewriting attack section I’ve removed some detail of what happened to individuals, and tried to only reflect the major battle components.
 * Expanded the casualty section significantly to indicate casualties in all participant groups.
 * Merged the investigation section into the aftermath section.
 * I kept the majority of refs in the original article and added some more. I removed the following two because the don’t relate directly to Alumin
 * - {cite web |title=What we know: The number of foreigners killed, missing, abducted in Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/10/what-we-know-the-number-of-foreigners-killed-missing-abducted-in-israel |website=aljazeera.com |access-date=November 1, 2023 |date=10 Oct 2023}}
 * It gives total Thais killed across the region not just in Alumim. Another ref has been used for Thais killed.
 * - “Despite the taking of hostages in Alumim among other Israeli settlements, an interrogation video by Israel's Shin Beit showed a Hamas militant saying that the goal of Hamas was to kill, but not to kidnap, also women and children, whom the militant said to be collectively perceived as "Israeli soldiers" by Hamas.{Cite web |title=Hamas terrorist: 'Our mission was simply to kill' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-771208 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en-US}}
 * Although Alumim is mentioned in passing, what is said relates to a militant participating and captured at the Kfar Aza attack.


 * I have resolved the citation needed items I put in the lead by aligning the lead with my understanding of these items from the references.

I wish everyone peace and good editing. Ayenaee (talk) 21:00, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Attack
At around 6:30 AM, red alert sirens and the sounds of explosions from Iron Dome interceptors deployed in the area were heard. There were more explosions than normal which warned the kibbutz that something was wrong. The IDF ordered the kibbutz”s security team, consisting of 12 civilians, to be activated which was done by 6:45 AM.

An alert was received at 6:45 AM that armed militants were approaching the entrance to Alumim. Ten or 8 militants on motorcycles arrived at the main gate at 7:00 AM, but were unable to open it. They then rode around the kibbutz and broke through a rear gate. This allowed them to reach and open the main gate from the inside. They began shooting at motor vehicles and their occupants who were passing on the road outside the kibbutz. One militant was wounded and evacuated at this point.

The militants then penetrated the area where foreign employees from Nepal and Thailand lived on the southern side of the kibbutz. The security team fired at them but were unable to assist the workers because they were too far away. The militants entered the foreign workers housing, killed many of them and kidnapped others to the Gaza Strip. .

They continued to the kibbutz dairy, where they killed additional Thai foreign workers, burned down the silo, punctured the milk tanks, and burnt hay intended for the cows. Extensive damage was caused to the dairy operation

At 9:00 AM, a number of militants entrenched themselves in a public park. The security team engaged them and managed to kill two, including their commander. At this point the militants were prevented from entering the area where the remaining kibbutz civilians lived.

The exchange of fire continued until 12:00 PM, when Israeli forces from the Metzada and Yahalom units arrived and assisted in the elimination of militants. At 12:30 PM, a group of militants arrived at the kibbutz packing house. The IDF Shaldag Unit fought them for several hours and together with an attack helicopter killed all of them. .

Thai and Nepalese employees
Of the forty-one foreigners employed as farm workers at Alumim, sixteen or seventeen were killed at the start of the attack. Eight  or 5 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. In terms of nationality ten Nepalese nationals were killed and 1  kidnapped. Similar numbers for Thai nationals are less certain with one source giving the breakdown as 7 killed and 4 kidnapped.

Other kibbutz civilians
No other civilian inhabitants are mentioned as having being killed. Non-combatant civilians mainly hid in their safe rooms for the duration of the battle. Defenders were successful at keeping militants from accessing the kibbutz living quarters, except those used by the foreign workers which were closer to where the fence was breached.

IDF
During the fighting, brothers Yishai and Noam Slotki from Beersheba were killed. They were IDF soldiers who come to the area on their own initiative to take part in the defense of Alumim. The brothers were the grandsons of Rabbi Eitan Eizman, president of Tzvia educational institution network, head of the Board of Trustees at Orot Israel Teachers College, and former board member of Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva.

Several defenders and civilians were wounded and treated by the on-site kibbutz nurse before being evacuated. .

Hamas
Various defenders mention that “dozens” of Hamas militants attacked the kibbutz. Ten or 8 militants on motorcycles were involved in the initial attack on the kibbutz’s main gate. Field battle reports indicate militants initially being killed in groups of two or three by the kibbutz security team. A portion of the security team reported killing 15-20 militants. Further militants were killed when IDF units joined the battle. No total number of militants killed is mentioned, but all fighting stopped by the end of the first day.

One militant was found hiding and arrested in cleanup operations on the second day. It is not clear if this is the same person shown in a subsequent interrogation video.

Aftermath
On 9 October, the members of the kibbutz were evacuated to Netanya

Surviving foreign workers returned to their countries in the days after the battle.

A document left behind by a militant at Alumim is reported to contain orders to "[raid] the kibbutz to maximize killings, take hostages, fend off security forces, and wait for further orders”. A similar document was found after the Re'im music festival massacre . In a video, allegedly of a militant captured at Alumim, further instructions are mentioned which if true would be war crimes. The video and the circumstances under which it was taken have not been confirmed.

Lead
Only includes summary of main content, so doesn’t need citations because it takes them from the article content it summarizes.

Attack

 * - Nepali and Thai workers. 16 of them were killed and 8 were kidnapped to Gaza
 * - Most comprehensive timeline of events
 * - Most comprehensive timeline of events


 * - 20 foreigners killed
 * - Part timeline verification
 * - Part timeline verification


 * - 16 and 8 foreigners killed and kidnapped.
 * - Part timeline verification
 * - Dairy infrastructure damaged (also aftermath)
 * - Dairy infrastructure damaged (also aftermath)


 * - Part timeline verification
 * - Part timeline verification


 * - What civilians were doing during attack
 * - What civilians were doing during attack


 * - What a civilian family was doing during attack.
 * - What a civilian family was doing during attack.

Casualties
I’ll citify these later:
 * - Employed - Thai 24. Nepalese 17. Total 41
 * - Killed - Thai 7. Nepalese 10. Total 17
 * - Injured - Thai 1. Nepalese 4. Total 5
 * - Kidnapped - Thai 4. Nepalese 1. Total 5
 * - All - Thai 12, Nepalese 15. Total 27
 * - All - Thai 12, Nepalese 15. Total 27


 * - Nepali 10, Kidnapped 1
 * - Thai: 21. kidnapped 14
 * - Thai: 21. kidnapped 14

* https://www.timesofisrael.com/foreigners-from-across-the-globe-killed-missing-or-abducted-in-hamas-massacre/ Foreigners from across the globe killed, missing or abducted in Hamas massacre 10 October
 * - Thailand: 18 dead, 11 hostages
 * - Nepal: 10 dead


 * - Nepallese: 50 working. 10 dead. 1 kidnapped.
 * - Nepallese: 50 working. 10 dead. 1 kidnapped.

* https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-israeli-farmers-near-gaza-damage-may-be-temporary-but-long-term-crisis-looms/ For Israeli farmers near Gaza, damage may be temporary but long-term crisis looms 20/10
 * - Continuing damage to agriculture


 * - Two Israel soldiers who were brothers killed. Family details.
 * - Two Israel soldiers who were brothers killed. Family details.


 * - Additional info on their famous Grandfather.
 * - Additional info on their famous Grandfather.

Aftermath

 * - Video of militant caught at Alumim stating objective
 * - 16+8
 * - 16+8


 * - Document found setting out Hamas objectives
 * - Document found setting out Hamas objectives

The use of each ref may change as I change the text to fit its ref. Ayenaee (talk) 13:46, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

New lead
On 7 October 2023, 30 Hamas militants attacked Alumim, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel. There were 41 Thai and Nepalese foreigners working at the kibbutz. In the initial attack the militants killed 16 of these employees (one reference says 17) and kidnapped 8 (one reference says 5). The kibbutz's security team were too far away to save the employees. The militants did severe structural damage to the Kibbutz’s dairy farming operation.

After heavy fighting, the security team were able to push the militants back, and with the eventual help of the Israeli Defense Force defeat them. No deaths among the remaining civilian population of the kibbutz have been reported. At least two Israeli soldiers were killed by militants. All the Hamas militants were killed.

Thai and Nepalese
Ignoring refs that don’t give a breakdown of both killed and kidnapped, there are:
 * - 3 refs that give the breakdown of the Nepalese killed and kidnapped which agree that these were 10 and 1
 * - 1 ref giving a breakdown of Thai killed as 7 and kidnapped 5
 * - 3 references give totals killed and kidnapped. 2 agree that these were 16 and 8. The other (the one that gives the full breakdown) says 17 and 5.
 * - The full breakdown ref says 41 total Thai and Nepalese worked at Alumim.

I therefore propose the following in describing the foreign casualties:
 * - Of 41 Thai and Nepalese foreigners working at the kibbutz, 16 were killed (one reference says 17) and 8 were kidnapped (one reference says 5). (With appropriate refs for all numbers)
 * - Give the Thai/Nepalese breakdown from the one ref in the article body but not lead.

Other civilian casualties
None of the refs mention deaths or kidnapping of civilian kibbutz members. The refs seem to indicate That these were prevented by the security team (but this is ambiguous). The one reference mentions that an unknown number of people driving on the road outside the kibbutz were shot, but no definite numbers are given. If anyone has additional referenced detail please give it here.

IDF casualties
only the two brothers are mentioned as deaths from the IDF. If anyone has additional referenced detail please give it here.

Hamas casualties
The original article mentioned that 30 Hamas militants were involved. I cannot find this number mentioned in any of the refs. There’s a mention of 8 militants on 4 motorcycles. Refs seem to intimate that more were involved but I can’t see clear numbers. The original article also says that ALL Hamas militants were killed, but again I can’t find this in any reference. This statement does seem to be contradicted by one ref which discusses a militant caught at Alumim, and refers to a video of him. I’m leaving these in for now with citation needed tags. But if refs can’t be found these will need to be weakened to mention the “at least 8 militants” and “a large number of militants killed, with at least one captured” if you now where these numbers come from please give the refs here.

Lead
Based on the above discussion I have put up a new version of the lead:
 * I have removed the wording in the original lead related to the wider war. This article is linked to the main war article which has well referenced text on the overall war. It is not necessary to repeat that in this article which should only focus on the events at Alumim.
 * All other lead items in the original article are included in this lead, but in NPOV Wikipedia voice.
 * All statements in the lead can be referenced, except the two citation needed items mentioned above.
 * All statements will be mentioned and detailed in the main body with refs, which will support the lead.

Translation of Hebrew articles
"We were 12 residents against dozens of terrorists. We fought for home." The amazing stories of heroism that took place in the Gaza envelope during the difficult hours of fighting are being revealed. Ohad Braverman, a resident of Kibbutz Alumim, fought for many hours against terrorists who tried to raid the kibbutz and denied them access to the residents: "There were many battle zones. We created a perimeter ring around the terrorists and managed to stop them."

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett published a post describing the heroic battles that took place near the Gaza Strip during the first hours of fighting. "The heroic battle at Kibbutz Alumim will be recorded in the annals of the Jewish people, alongside the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek in the War of Independence and the Battle of Ammunition Hill," he described, "good people showed supreme heroism and drove the terrorists out of the kibbutz, saving the lives of the wounded and death. These are displays of heroism at the highest level that the people of Israel know. The heart is broken, but the spirit is strong." One of those residents who bravely fought the terrorists and prevented an even greater disaster is Ohad Braverman, a resident of Kibbutz Alumim. "At around 6:30 a.m., I heard a very loud noise, very loud booms. "I realized that there was something out of the ordinary," Braverman described, "This is not another Qassam rocket fall or an interception from the Iron Dome, noises we know. It's something excessive."

I went outside my apartment, in the youth neighborhood, and saw a few other guys. We met outside and had time to see some interceptions. There was an Air Force plane that emerged and turned. I remember it was cold, I went back to the apartment, put on something warm, went outside again - and suddenly we heard an explosion, a much louder noise. A few seconds later, we heard gunfire at very close range. We realized it was 300-400 meters away. We also heard shouting. I was discharged three months ago, so the spring is relatively alert. A friend from the kibbutz who serves as a regular operational driver brought me his personal pistol and we headed for the event." What did you discover at the entrance to the kibbutz? "As we approached the area from which we heard the shooting, we identified eight terrorists on the road, 10 meters away from us. They were riding four motorcycles. We took the young men who had been with us until that second into an apartment and told them it was a terrorist infiltration. I put the kibbutz chief on the line as soon as possible and informed him of the direction of travel, the advance of the terrorists, the quantity and configuration. I put on my uniform and walked toward the kibbutz armory. I'm not part of the alert squad, but it felt like the right thing to do. I took a weapon, an old bulletproof vest and a helmet, and we started fighting for the house. There were a lot of terrorists."

How many terrorists were there and how many were you? "There were dozens of terrorists in the whole incident. We had a pretty serious containment of a large number of terrorists at the kibbutz gate. We were a group of 12: guys from the alert squad, me and another fighter. We protected the house, we guarded the house. Another focus and another focus, and the force responds. We kept trying to figure out where the terrorists were. The cameras in the kibbutz operations room directed us to where we identified or heard terrorists. There were lots of battle zones. We managed to stop them. The idea was to deny them access to residents, to maintain such a perimeter ring." How many hours does it last? "From 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., we were there alone. In the process, some kind of military vehicle arrived for a few minutes and just left, because there were many events in many kibbutzim. Six hours later, a Masada force arrived and joined us in the fighting, followed by a Yahalam force."

—————-

Kibbutz Alumim is one of the most beautiful in Israel. Its white houses are planted among rows of handsome winged trees, wide manicured green lawns and colorful charming corners. Were it not for frequent explosive reminders from Gaza, which lies like rainbows across the avocado groves and wheat fields, it could be described as an ideal of tranquility. On Monday morning, the surroundings around the kibbutz's main gate looked more like Bab al Wad during the War of Independence than the beautiful Route 232 leading to Kerem Shalom. Dozens of abandoned vehicles, some burned and some riddled with bullets, are scattered around the area, telling the terrible story that took place on Saturday. A story of great terror and supreme heroism, of the veteran kibbutz members and especially of the members of the alert squad who, with their own hands, few in the face of waves of terrorists who tried to break through from eight different points, managed to prevent a massacre. On Simchat Torah night, the synagogue was filled with kibbutz members and many guests who did not suspect for a moment that the joy and tranquility were about to be horribly violated in less than 12 hours. We spoke with the farm coordinator, Zvika Blumstein (50), who managed the operation from the command room in the heart of the kibbutz and knew how to direct the forces according to what was seen in the network of cameras scattered throughout the kibbutz, while updating his wife and four children who were closed in the safe room.

Here's what happened, hour by hour. The things are documented in an information sheet that was produced for members in the midst of the battles and testimonies in the field.

6:30 in the morning. The peace of the holiday was disturbed by alarms and intense explosions from the Iron Dome battery interceptors stationed in the area. The residents, already accustomed to such events, called out from their beds to the police officers without being too excited. But this time everything was different. The barrages went on and on.

Rafi Babian, the security officer of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, a resident of Alumim, heard that the "Iron Dome" battery was operating non-stop and realized that something different was happening this time. He hurried to bring his family, including his mother and sister who had come from Jerusalem to spend the holiday with them, to the MMD, and organized himself to go to the council's headquarters to activate the emergency call center. at the intersection I got closer and saw a van with a machine gun on it, spraying everything near it. The intersection was filled with revelers who had returned from the party in the Raim forest and were on their way north, and stopped by the side when the alarm sounded. I immediately received a message from sources that terrorists have arrived at the gate and are shooting at everyone who is there. In fact, I was ahead of them by a few minutes and it seems I was saved by a miracle. I started sending the people at the junction east towards Kfar Maimon, Shukda and back through the dirt tracks in the fields, after it was clear that it was impossible to pass through the junction. Many arrived in the settlements and there the Rabbis were waiting for them, recognized them as Jews and let them in."

6:45. An order arrives from the army to raise the standby squad. "All the residents were already in the police stations," says Zvika Blumstein. He called Eyal Rein, the kibbutz's security coordinator, who also understood that it was a scenario that begins with rocket fire combined with foot infiltration. Rein, 50, a reserve major in the rescue and rescue unit, He was born in the Yavneh group two days after the ceasefire in the Yom Kippur war, and has been a resident of Alumim for 23 years after marrying the daughter of the farm.

7:00. The first terrorists arrive at the main gate. Zvika: "Approximately 10 terrorists on motorcycles saw that the gate was closed and turned left to the back gate of the kibbutz, broke through the barrier and drove back inside the kibbutz to the front gate. There they took up positions and started shooting indiscriminately, also using RPGs. towards vehicles passing by on the main road. They hit about 20 cars. Two of them stormed towards the vehicles that were hit and shot their occupants. One of the terrorists was hit, apparently by shots from his friends or from a soldier who was passing by at the same time, and returned from the road to the kibbutz gate. His friends loaded him on one of the motorcycles and raced with him back to Gaza."

7:30. Several people from the emergency room are rushed to one of the houses after a couple of friends reported that terrorists had broken into their house. The couple is quickly smuggled out of the house through the window of the police station to the neighbors' house. In the end it turned out that people who fled the party in bad faith entered the kibbutz to find shelter.

8:00. Terrorists are identified in the area where the foreign workers live, in the southern part of the kibbutz, near the large dairy farm. The standby squad prepares for the assault and fires from a distance. The terrorists enter the residences and massacre the Nepali and Thai workers. 16 of them were killed and 8 were kidnapped to Gaza. "They carried out slaughter using weapons and grenades," Tzvika is shocked. "Unfortunately, we were unable to save them," says Eyal. "They are our employees, we know each and every one by name."

8:30. The terrorists turn to the nearby milking parlor and set it on fire, while damaging the milking equipment and puncturing the milk containers. The haystack where the straw bales were piled, food for the cows, is also set on fire. Alumim Farm is one of the most modern and leading farms in Israel, and a main source of income for the kibbutz, and now 700 cows are left without food and without milking; Some died in the roof collapse. The kibbutz has not yet done damage control, but it is clear that the scope is enormous. In addition to the shut down institute, the dairy farm staff was also severely injured, all the Thais were killed, and Blumstein turned to friends to help find volunteers to carry out milking since cows that are not milked develop inflammations and infections.

On Wednesday they managed to restore part of the barn. When the first group of cows was connected to the milking machines, the excitement grew, and the moment was captured in a video distributed to friends.

8:45. The terrorists are now heading towards a warehouse containing equipment worth hundreds of thousands of shekels and destroying it as well.

9:00. A report is received about terrorists entrenching themselves in the area of Gan Hadar, named after the late Hadar Goldin, in the western part of the kibbutz. The standby squad rushes to the area. "There began the heroic battle of the squad against dozens of terrorists who tried to break into the kibbutz houses from there," says Tzvika. "We managed to kill two terrorists, including the commander of the force, and prevent the terrorists from entering the houses. If they had crossed this line, God forbid, there would have been a disaster like in the other kibbutzim."

adhesive force

Class commander Barak Shalom led the fighting in the field. Eyal: "The terrorists broke through the fence and penetrated the kibbutz territory. 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 seminary, and from there we were able to snipe 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."

"Three members of the class were injured in this fight," adds Tzvika. "One of them received a bullet in the chest and turned back to receive treatment at the clinic. The other was more lightly injured. A third friend, Eran, said 'I was hit but I continue to fight'. He continued for another two hours until we evacuated him."

The destruction in the kibbutz shelter. Photo: Stevie Marcus 9:30. The kibbutz nurse Michaela Koretsky receives a message about a wounded person being brought to her home. On normal days she is a midwife in Soroka, but on the day of the battle she had to function as a medic on the battlefield. After making sure that the members of her family and her parents who came to stay at the hospital were ready, she went out to greet the wounded.

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

In the meantime preparations were made to evacuate the wounded. "We demanded a quick evacuation, but the MDA don't come as long as there is shooting," says Eyal. "One of the friends, who is a MDA volunteer driver, simply took a private car and with another medic drove towards Netivot. At the gate, they managed to grab a bunch of the terrorists who were on the road, and the medic was slightly injured in his hand.

11:30. The other wounded man, Eran, arrives at the nurse's house. "He continued to fight for another four hours with three bullets in his thigh. At first he didn't feel that he was hurt because of the adrenaline in his blood," says Michaela. "I forced him to evacuate. My husband gave me his personal weapon and said, 'Let my father watch over you.' to wait three hours until they let him come back."

All three injured were out of danger. All the while the bullets whistled around the house. "I went under the table. Our four children were in the MMD alone with grandma. We heard gunshots all around, we realized it was close and we didn't know how far."

At the end of the battle, the class began to scan the area and look for more terrorists.

12:00. Another terrorist group is identified on cameras, this time in the avocado groves in the west of the kibbutz. The standby squad heads there and a battle ensues. This time they already had assistance from soldiers in an armored military vehicle who finally arrived at the scene.

"The body is intact but the soul is shattered." Kibbutz Alumim. Photo: Stevie Marcus 12:15. A report is received from one of the residents about her husband being injured. It turns out that a terrorist managed to enter the kibbutz and get close to their house and shoot inside. The friend was wounded by shrapnel in his stomach. "The couple were at the police station and heard the terrorist shoot at the door of their house. The soldiers rushed to the scene and managed to kill the two terrorists who tried to enter the house," says Eyal. Another terrorist approached another house and shot at the window. The tenant was wounded by shrapnel. The two wounded residents were evacuated to Soroka and Assaf Harofeh.

"Meanwhile, the army arrived, and two terrorists who didn't manage to cross the fence returned to the plantations," Eyal continues. "In the scans that took place the next day, another terrorist was found lying there and waiting. He raised his hands and was taken by the soldiers. During his investigation, he spilled information that helped the soldiers find more terrorists in the field."

Later in the day, bitter news arrived that one of the members of the household, Lieutenant Natai Amar, had been killed. "He is an officer in the Gaza Division and when the shooting started he went to the base. Apparently he was hit by the terrorists' fire at the Ra'im intersection."

The late Lieutenant Netai Amar. Photo: Courtesy of the IDF website 12:30 p.m. Dozens of additional terrorists arrive in the area of the packing house in the south-eastern part of the kibbutz, and encounter a force of paratroopers. A helicopter gunship wipes out most of them. "Dozens of bodies of terrorists remained in the kibbutz," says Tzvika.

"At a certain time there were dozens of terrorists around us. The 12 soldiers of the standby unit stopped the terrorists with their bodies and bloodied them, until the first soldiers arrived after a few hours," adds Eyal.

No time for questions

"We had a great miracle," admits the center of the economy. "The standby platoon was trained to be the initial defense team. That's why it was created. The first military standby force of Alumim defended fiercely, and also suffered casualties. Happily, the fighters were able to hold the kibbutz until the army arrived."

It turns out that the IDF often treated the standby units as a nuisance; the weapons were taken from the residents, the means of communication were reduced and their steps were restricted. It turned out that this was a gross mistake, I comment.

The destruction in the barn in the kibbutz. Photo: Stevie Marcus "I don't say a bad word about the army," Zvika refuses to comment. "When we discovered that we were being attacked from several places at the same time, we debated together where to focus our attention. I said to Barak, the class commander: 'Go with your strength and save Israel.' He made brave decisions, divided the force into teams, and we managed to overcome complex events."

Did the standby class prepare for such a scenario as part of the training?

"Training is based on a specific and isolated event, about which sometimes you also receive a notification, prepare in front of fences, thicken the guard formation" says Eyal. "This was not the case here. They were much ahead of us, they were here before us, and don't forget - we woke up from sleep. We woke up under the protection of the Iron Dome. It was a completely different event. In retrospect, we realized that it was not only the unknown but the entire region. The standby squad, by definition, is the initial force for the protection of the kibbutz until the army arrives. If there is one incident in one locality, the army will arrive quickly, but here it took hours for the army to arrive, which makes sense because of the massive scale of the incidents."

Will anything change now in terms of the reference to the standby classes?

"Everything we thought we knew was buried deep in the tunnels of Gaza. Now is not the time for conclusions, but the Israeli world will look completely different."

Members of Kibbutz Malkia's standby squad in an exercise. Photo: Eyal Margolin/Flash 90 Are you afraid there are attack tunnels?

"I don't know, there are rumors that there are," replies Blumstein. "We were told that there is a Chinese wall under the ground, a huge obstacle that cannot be crossed. But the penetration of the above-ground fence was shockingly simple. What happened here is definitely a big mistake. There is a fault here in the state's protection of the Otaf settlements to the last line. We must understand that the kibbutzim are In the first line and we need to help. Our problem is that two minutes after the war they no longer remember us and abandon us."

"Right now we are licking our wounds and they are bleeding and very painful," says Babian. "We in the Alumim, like in the neighboring kibbutzim Nahal Oz, Bari, Sa'ad, Kfar-Aza, have had a difficult day and many dead, including abductees. This is not the time to ask what happened to the army. The terrorists managed to surprise us all, enter in hundreds, followed by a herd of unsuspecting civilians. Armed men who came in to steal, loot and assist in the effort to kidnap people."

What do you think about the fact that the Otaf residents have had their weapons taken away in the past?

"And the educated at that time will die."

Mom, I want to go home

Alumim Group was founded in 1966 by two Nahal leaders. It has about 90 families who make a living mainly from agriculture: carrots, potatoes, citrus, avocados, jojoba and organic crops. It has five packing houses, and a chicken coop for fattening with a production capacity of about 20 A thousand poultry a year. The barn, as already written, is one of the largest and most professional in the country. Other industries have also developed in Alumim, such as computer solutions, a car garage and fine country hospitality.

The entrance to Kibbutz Alumim, October 9, 2023. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90 In recent years, according to Hamas, the MMADs have become an integral part of life. But the residents have never been forced to sit a whole day in the closed and dark room and receive information only through messages on the internal system and on WhatsApp. So that the guests also knew what was happening, they used the public address system that could be heard from miles away.

The home of Tsurit Avraham and her husband, a police officer in the Negev district, is right at the entrance. Tsurit is an educational consultant born in the kibbutz, and her parents were among its founders. For more than 24 hours, the parents stayed with their five children in the kibbutz. "It was day and night, as we sat in the dark the whole time. We woke up to the sounds of the Iron Dome interceptions and immediately entered the MMD. Shortly after, the sounds of machine gun fire and bullets hitting our house were heard. Before that we received a notification about a suspected intrusion and realized that it was very close. We didn't know who was shooting. We sat in silence, we trembled and the room was filled with fear of death." Zurit chokes.

"We were busy praying, we clung to each other so that if God forbid someone broke in, we could protect ourselves. We recited chapters of the Psalms that we had memorized. We had no weapons, only a sharp knife that my husband brought from the kitchen. He stood by the door and prepared to attack if anyone approached. Door The house was locked, but the lock could be opened from the outside. We didn't know how to disassemble the outer lock. We heard rustling from the window and thought that maybe it was people who ran away from the party in bad moods and are trying to find shelter in our houses."

The hours passed. "We couldn't go to the bathroom, so we took the children's clothes and towels and they peed in them. We did the needs in the girl's toy boxes. We didn't have much water, only one bottle and we couldn't go out to get more. During all those hours there was no food. My husband was busy Corresponding with his friends and knowing that they were in distress, some of them were killed. When we somehow sensed that the IDF was in the field, we peeked out. The paratroopers arrived and I immediately took out water and a yeast cake. We removed all the stench from the room and quickly changed clothes. We went back in but felt more confident. We also dared to turn on the light and speak, express ourselves."

What did you say to the children?

"My five-year-old daughter told me a difficult sentence that I will never forget: Mom, I really want to go home. I told her: I understand your feeling so much. After all, our home was supposed to be the most protected place for us and now even the MMD is no longer protected enough, Because someone can get into it. God is watching over us and the soldiers are watching over us and everything will be fine. Then she told me: Don't worry, I will continue the Abraham family."

In the women's WhatsApp groups, messages of information and encouragement were sent, and recommendations on how to relax and calm the children. The information arrived on time. "It was a circle of support," says Zurit.

"In the afternoon, the paratroopers arrived," says M, a member of the kibbutz. "They asked what was heard and found out that everything was fine. Suddenly I heard shouts of 'catch him!' I looked out the kitchen window and saw a group of soldiers taking control of a terrorist. When I went out into the yard later, it turned out that the terrorist had tried to enter our house, because we saw his footprints in the garden. It was not easy. We turned on the portable TV on MMD and the children watched cartoons."

On Monday, an unknown woman called Zurit. "You have to help me," said the woman. "We have information that our son's car is in the kibbutz, and someone who was with him called and said it was unknown. Help us find him." "They directed her to someone who could help, but until now I don't know what happened to them. It was so hard for me to bear it," Tzurit bursts into tears again. "The scenes in the kibbutz in the morning were hell. So many vehicles shot at the entrance to the kibbutz."

On Sunday morning, the residents were allowed to leave the MMD to go to the bathroom and bring food. "We went outside and saw the tanks. It gave us a great sense of security. The children saw that there was already someone watching over us."

Tsurit and all the members of the kibbutz were transferred later that day to Netanya and housed in hotels by the sea. "I still can't look ahead, but I understand that we have started a longer run than a marathon. The body is intact, thank God, but the soul is shattered. We feel embraced by the people of Israel and are proud of the residents of the kibbutz and the IDF, even though it took a while to arrive. Why did everything happen? They will learn that later, what's more, it really doesn't matter anymore."