Ein HaShlosha

On October 7, Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, as part of a violent surprise attack on Israel. The terrorists looted and burned many houses and killed four civilian kibbutz members.  80-year-old Silvia Marnasky, originally from Argentinian, perished after her home was set on fire and she was unable to escape. The head of the civil defense team, Rami Negbi, was killed in the fighting. A 63-year-old grandmother, Talia Marcel was riddle with bullets as she was taking cookies to her grandchildren. Noa Glazberg, a 39 year old Israeli-Chilean woman was shot 8 times. The standoff between the attackers and the residents’ civil defense team lasted six hours. The damage inflicted upon the kibbutz’s residents, particularly the children, and the devastation to their buildings and infrastructure are incalculable.

The terrorists disabled the security cameras and set houses on fire, attempting to force the occupants outside for a deadly ambush. Innocent families were targeted by Hamas terrorists, including the elderly, babies, children, women, and men. One survivor relates what their family went through: “My worst fears were realized as they entered our home. My children, in those terrifying hours, heard a group of terrorists inside our house, shouting and causing chaos as they ransacked our home. They also witnessed their father, standing in front of the security room door in his underwear, attempting to keep the terrorists out. For hours, my three children and their mother lay in silence, while we engaged in frantic text messages with people around the world. Three hours after the terrorists infiltrated our house, the army finally arrived and stopped them just outside the safe room door.”

81-year Jacqueline Gliksman retells her harrowing story from the attack when the terrorists broke into her home, opened her safe room door and asked her if she had a gun. Others broke the shutters of her the safe room and asked her for money.  “They took my mobile phone, tablet and then left. I could smell petrol. They were pouring petrol over the house. I opened the metal window, which is extremely heavy, jumped through it in my pajamas and started running barefoot through the kibbutz. My house was on fire, and I saw my friend’s house on fire. I knew the person inside it was dead. Burned alive. I ran to the center of the kibbutz where I found the security chief’s body lying on the ground. I finally found refuge in another kibbutz member’s house until we were rescued by the IDF.”

Remarkably, 30 people, consisting of 16 Israeli residents and 14 Thai agricultural workers, managed to hide from the attackers in a bomb shelter, but were cut off from communication. They were rescued three days later.

The survivors have been evacuated and remain uncertain about when they can return. In the interim, five courageous residents have temporarily relocated to a nearby military post, with daily military protection provided so that they could continue to milk the kibbutz’s remaining cows. The community’s cows would also suffer without their dedication.