October 7th Massacre/Sderot

Sderot, a city of more than 30,000 people, was struck by rockets at 6:30 in the morning of October 7th. Hamas gunmen entered the town and engaged in firefights with local police units and civilians. Many civilians were murdered on the street and in homes in the surprise attack. The residents of the city received instructions to lock the doors and windows of their homes, and not to open the door when knocked.

On the same day, a group of 13 elderly people, including Holocaust survivors were on the way to a vacation in the Dead Sea. A wheel of their minibus got punctured when they were on the way to pick up more friends, and they stopped in a bus stop in Sderot when they heard an alarm. They ran to the shelter, which was locked so they remained outdoors. Two white vans of terrorists passed by and slaughtered them. Only two survived. One of them, the driver, reportedly lay on the ground near a woman. When the terrorists shot at them, the bullets hit the woman and she bled on him. He was saved by pretending to be dead when he was covered by blood. The second, Nikolai, a worker from Moldova, was frightened by the first alarms, and ran to the house of a local family, and stayed there for nearly 2 days.

Reuven, a police volunteer testified about these events. He understood on the first alarm that something isn’t right. He quickly dressed, took his pistol, bullets, and a vest, and went to close the window in his grandmother’s shelter. On his way back, he saw a minibus standing near the library with one wheel missing, and many old people near a locked shelter. He tried to open it but didn’t manage. He saw a van start shooting at them. He had only 15 bullets, but returned fire anyways. He doesn’t understand how he wasn’t killed, despite standing in between the elderly people who were slaughtered. He later entered someone’s house and stayed there for an hour. He then joined Shin Bet forces who were in the area. They saw all the dead bodies near the road, and started searching for terrorists.

Keren Roitman Hazan, a 35 year-old Sderot resident, heard the first alarms while preparing for her morning jog. She was used to alarms, however the amount of rockets was unprecedented, and the alarm went on 20 minutes nonstop. She understood she won’t have her morning jog, and she opened her windows in order to ventilate the house. She then heard gunshots, and it took her a while to understand what is going on. She got videos of terrorists riding in the city, as well as images of the elderly people murdered near the library which is 200 meters from her house. She then closed all the windows and entered the shelter with the kids. They sat in the dark and were afraid to speak. Keren testifies: “We behaved like in the story of Anne Frank”. Next morning, her husband, who works as a warden, had to go to work. 3 hours later, rockets hit the electricity and water infrastructure, with the cellular infrastructure hit already on Saturday (the day of the attack). When she understood the electricity won’t come back, she filled a bag, took their rabbit and voles and entered the car with her kids. The kids panicked and even told “We don't want to die, we are too little”. She instructed them to lower the head below the window line and cover them with pillows. She told them she wouldn’t stop in the way, and if the car does stop, that means something happened and they should run. She noticed she forgot to bring her medicine but understood they have to get out as soon as possible. While driving, she saw many cars covered in blood. She tried to concentrate on the driving and ignore the fact that her she was getting shot at. She did all this despite suffering from a serious medical condition. After some time, she let her kids raise their heads, however they had to duck every time a van passed by. The next day, they went to Eilat with what they had, and with her husband still wearing his uniform.

Terrorists attacked the police station of Sderot, and there was heavy fighting. At one point the fighters from the police station called “We are both seriously injured, there are terrorists on the roof with us. We are in combat. We are out of ammunition”. The fighting intensified both on the roof and near the entrance of the police station. The fighting continued 24 hours, and the fighters supported each other the entire time. Superintendent Mali Shoshana said in the connection “Just tell my son that I love him”. Despite these parting words, she survived the battle. The terrorists eventually took control of the police station. A decision was made to demolish the station. A heavy exchange of fire started after a bulldozer started demolishing parts of the station, and the station caught fire. IDF tanks as well as other armored vehicles were brought to the area.

The Battle of Sderot, however was not over yet. It was suspected that the last terrorist that was in the station managed to escape. On the morning of October 8th, the mayor of the city said “We have not yet vindicated the city in terms of terrorists. Stay locked in the houses and do not open doors, even if they people knock. It is impossible to say that the terrorists have been completely eliminated - we are still in combat”.

After the terrorists were eliminated, Hamas continued firing rockets nonstop on Sderot. The residents were later evacuated to hotels in the Dead Sea, Eilat, and Jerusalem.