Autor fotografie: Team SM|Popisek: Inbal Rahaf with her triatlon team
This Monday, October 7, marked one year since the Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. Seventeen-year-old survivor Inbal Rahaf shared her experience with Security Magazine when she miraculously escaped the gunmen that Saturday morning.
Monday, October 7, marked the one-year anniversary of the attack by Hamas terrorists on kibbutzim in southern Israel and the Nova music festival, in which more than 1,200 Israeli citizens were killed and several thousand others injured. People around the world remembered not only the deaths of their loved ones, but also the stories of the survivors who miraculously escaped from thousands of well-informed and prepared terrorists. Seventeen-year-old Inbal Rahaf is one such person who shared her experiences of that Saturday morning with our editors.
7th of October was an ordinary Saturday for Inbal
Inbal comes from Kibbutz Mefalsim, which is approximately 1.5 kilometres from the border with the Gaza Strip. The girl has been doing triathlon, which is running, swimming and cycling, since she was 8 years old, and on Saturday, October 7, she had a cycling practice scheduled with her sports group, as she does every week. For this purpose, she and her friends, four other boys and girls from the team, and her coach, met around 6 a.m. outside the gate of Kibbutz Kfar Azza, located about 2.5 kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip and about 3 kilometers from Kibbutz Mefalsim. After familiarising themselves with the training plan, the team set off in different directions in the direction of Kibbutz Kfar Azza.
After about three minutes Inbal and his friends heard the first rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, followed by explosions, probably from Israeli anti-aircraft systems such as the Iron Dome or the MIM-104 Patriot. Since all the team members were children from nearby kibbutzim, they were not too frightened by the sound of the rockets and followed a well-known protocol: lie down on the ground, put your hands above your head and wait for the rockets to stop. This measure is intended to protect Israeli citizens from any shrapnel from missiles that might hit them.
But when the volleys of rockets from Gaza didn't stop, Inbal and her friends began to find the whole situation strange. They got up and decided to take shelter in a shelter located in front of Kibbutz Saad, which is adjacent to Kfar Azza. At approximately 6:31 a.m., Inbal's father called her and asked if she wanted a ride home. Inbal, who thought it was a routine attack by Hamas rockets on Israel, declined his offer and replied that she was fine with her friends hiding in the shelter. A few minutes later, however, her phone rang a second time. It was her mother, who explained that she must not leave the shelter under any circumstances and must call the police if there was a threat. Inbal was confused. Though she did not understand the intensity of her mother's insistence, she could tell from her voice that the situation was serious.
Memories of October 7 will remain in Inbal's memory forever
Inbal finally called the police, but even on the third time, no one answered her phone. Only later, in her own words, did she learn that dozens of armed terrorists were already in the immediate vicinity of the kibbutz at that time, with the mission to kill or kidnap any Israeli citizen, whether civilian or soldier. The police station she called at that time had already been attacked and most of its personnel had been killed or were fighting the terrorists. Some of Inbal's friends were soon picked up by their parents, but the girl was all the more confused when, instead of the reassuring words that they had arrived home safely, she heard their cries from the phone and the news that they had been attacked and shot on the way.
Inbal therefore discussed the whole situation with her supervisor, Jehudit, who advised her to come out of hiding and take refuge in nearby Kibbutz Saad, where several of the girl's relatives lived. This advice probably saved her life in the end, as Saad was one of the few kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip whose security guards were informed relatively early of the terrorist attack and were able to protect most of its residents. When Inbal heard that the ever-present sounds of gunfire had subsided for a time, she put on her goggles and helmet, quickly mounted her bike with her friend, and together they moved from the shelter to the safety of the kibbutz. Inbal's parents were not finally able to pick her up until more than a day later.
They themselves faced a terrorist attack at Kibbutz Mefalsim. Her father defended their house with a gun in his hand and the rest of the family hid in a shelter. In her own words, the 17-year-old girl will never forget the crazy sounds of gunfire, but most of all what she saw on her way home from Kibbutz Saad to Mefalsim. In addition to the burnt cars and buildings, she saw many dead bodies. The family was subsequently forced to evacuate their home due to the imminent danger, and Inbal and his parents and siblings lived in relatives' houses and hotels for months. While Inbal has not erased the memory of the events of Saturday, October 7 from her mind, she feels compelled to share her story because, unlike many of her friends, she survived the horrific day. While some of her family returned to their home on Kibbutz Mefalsim about a month ago, her brother is now serving on the northern front with Lebanon.
October 7, symbol of disaster or resistance?
Such stories of the survivors of the 7 October attack, whether from kibbutzim or the Nova Festival, are not meant to highlight only the suffering of one side or to incite listeners to hate the people of Gaza. They are meant to highlight the horrors that took place on 7 October and to draw attention to the fact that the whole event was very well planned by the terrorist organisation for months or years, something that is often overlooked by many in the media. In fact, the pro-Palestinian protesters who describe the events of 7 October as a resistance are quite often ignorant of the reality and the fact that many of the Hamas terrorists were reinforced with drugs for the attack, which enabled them to wantonly murder hundreds of civilians. For the survivors themselves, talking about their experiences then serves as a therapeutic tool to cope with the trauma they have experienced. Behind every war conflict, we need to see the suffering of civilians, their pleas for an end to the conflict and calls for a ceasefire.
Source: Speech of Inbal Rahaf on Commemorance of 7th of October in Tenafly, New Jersey