I usually only post good things online, but this time we experienced a tragedy.
I saw death with my own eyes. They tried to kill us, and over the course of hours we fought over the door to our safe room against the terrorists, under fire from grenades and gunshots. They burned down our house and when smoke entered the safe room, we started realizing they were killing us, our friends, and their children in cold blood.
I said goodbye to my husband and children; I didn’t believe that I would be here to write this post. They murdered everything, along with our memories, and all of our souls. We were seconds from death. They disconnected our electricity and set fire to the house as we were screaming for hours, but very quietly, for help. Heaven forbid they would hear us.
"We heard the terrorists shouting from every direction, looting everything they could, and we waited for hours"
Our hearts are scorched.
The kids were heroes the entire time. They laid quietly on the floor for hours as they heard us begging for help from the police, from the army, from the firefighters, and from all those that we had put our faith in. We heard the terrorists shouting from every direction, looting everything they could, and we waited for hours. From 6:30am until the afternoon, the situation only deteriorated and no one came. There was no army nearby, only terrorists.
As we left, we witnessed a tragic scene of burnt corpses and tanks on fire and the children saw everything. You may say that we escaped the inferno alive, only seconds from death, but it will remain within us forever.
I am in pain for all of the friends we lost from our kibbutz, and the one we lived in previously. We had built our dream society and a warm community. And in this one horrible moment, we were together with one heart. We had just celebrated the holiday of Sukkot together, and we were one heart. But my heart is now broken for all of the heroes that are no longer with us. We are not just numbers. This is not just another military operation. This is a never-ending hell. And we are all in it.
I thank G-d for saving our lives, and I don’t have enough words to thank the people of Israel for all of their love.
Jude T.