Israel war: How a dozen volunteers saved an Israeli kibbutz from Hamas attack

A dozen Israeli volunteers have shared the harrowing moment they saved 1000 people in their kibbutz from being attacked by Hamas.

A dozen volunteer security officers have recounted the harrowing moment they saved 1000 Israelis from being massacred by Hamas terrorists, while coming under gunfire themselves.

More than two dozen Hamas fighters had crossed the border and were about to attack the Mefalsim kibbutz in in southern Israel.

Israeli man Moshe Kaplan told The Wall Street Journal how he sent an urgent alert to his volunteer security forces in the village to come help protect the area.

“There’s a shooting in the village from the gate,” Mr Kaplan texted after militants fired at his car as he drove past the main entrance.

The attackers later blew open a pedestrian gate nearby with explosives and flooded into the kibbutz.

Mr Kaplan recalled how he yelled in a second panicked voice text begging his men to hurry, but nearly 20 minutes had passed and no one was in sight.

Deep Dive—How 12 Kibbutz volunteers armed with M16s, defeated 30 Hamas terrorists—These brave men saved 1,000 civilians from torture and death.https://t.co/gediTeLvhG pic.twitter.com/i3WvEtPkoM

— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) October 17, 2023

Grabbing his armoured vest and M16 rifle, Mr Kaplan said he left his car and shot at assailants from behind a metal garbage container.

Shortly after his call for help, the Israeli volunteers rushed from their homes armed with M16 rifles and wearing helmets and protective vests over their T-shirts.

The outnumbered men said they tried holding off the Hamas militants until the Israeli army arrived, but as minutes passed and the fighting grew worse, they realised they would have to fight alone.

“It became very, very apparent that they weren’t coming,” security volunteer Yarden Reskin, 38, said.

Hamas gunmen killed 1400 Israelis and took close to 200 hostages across 20 Israeli towns, including at the all-night Supernova music festival not far from Mefalsim.

Israeli soldiers near the kibbutz where 270 revellers were gunned down or burnt in their cars at the Supernova music festival. Picture: AFP

Israeli army veteran Shaked Porat drove his two sleeping children home before joining the small group of volunteers where he saw four armed men in vests and black jeans.

He said he quickly realised they were militants and started shooting. Two of the armed men ran toward nearby houses for cover. Two others hid behind a parked car.

“It’s a very lonely feeling, especially when you are one against four,” Mr Porat said.

Photos taken later show two dead men, one on the sidewalk and one in the street.

They also show two attackers that were killed in the garden of a house by four Israeli soldiers who were home on weekend leave. Two of the soldiers suffered minor wounds from grenade fragments.

Mefalsim was lucky not to lose any of their residents unlike other areas. Picture: Getty Images

The Israeli soldiers spent the following three days going house to house, looking for any attackers who might be still hiding in the kibbutz.

The bodies of eight militants were recovered and two more were killed after troops found them hiding in a cow shed. Another was captured, and the rest were driven off.

No Mefalsim residents were killed or taken hostage by the estimated 25 to 30 Hamas militants because of the protection by a dozen residents, many of them former Israeli soldiers.

Following the attack, residents relocated to a beachfront hotel north of Tel Aviv and Mefalsim has been declared a military zone and is closed.

“There is a feeling of discomfort that we survived, and others did not,” Mr Kaplan said.