October 7 > Gaza Border Communities > Testimony of Yuval B
At 6:30 in the morning we woke up to the sound of the Red Alert siren. We immediately ran to the safe room and I closed the iron window. There was a blast so strong from the missiles falling outside that I felt I really had to protect myself and close the window with me on the other side of the wall and not be exposed. As they began to fall, Eliyah, the Military Security Officer [who is in charge of the Kibbutz's Rapid Response Squad], called me and told me to get my equipment and weapon immediately. Reading between the lines, and in my gut feelings, I understood that this is something beyond a missile attack, but it still wasn’t being said.
“He sent a voice message, 'There are terrorists on the kibbutz, no one is to leave'. That was the moment that we understood what was happening. We became even more alert.”
Michael B., a friend from the Rapid Response Squad, saw terrorists running through his window and sent a voice message, “There are terrorists on the kibbutz, no one is to leave.” That was the moment that we understood what was happening. We became even more alert.
Yuval, Ofir and Tai B. (published on Ynet)
I already had my equipment, but this was the first time I was putting it on since I had gotten it a year ago. We demanded from the army to do a reserve day, so we could reset our weapons, shoot at the range, and do some kind of training. It didn’t happen. In the end, I fit my helmet, started to do dry runs with my weapon in the safe room, in front of Ofir and Tai, to bring back the instinct. I hadn’t done this for years.
Eliyah went out and came across some terrorists face to face. He ran back, managed to disappear into his house and grab his equipment. He went into the bathroom where there was a small window that looked out onto the house opposite. He saw the neighbor’s car and the terrorists started to mess around with it, so he took them both out. Another two arrived and he eliminated them too. That was the beginning.
“We realized that there was no army when we called them and they said, ‘Manage, do what you can.’ “
We realized that there was no army when we called them and they said, “Manage, do what you can.” Around 10:00 am we got to my house, to move Ofir and the boy [his son] to my parent’s house, which was 50 meters from us. Under fire and shooting we ran to their house, so they could be together. When we got to my parent’s house