Yated

On October 7, 15 Hamas terrorists entered the community on vans and motorcycles. Members of the moshav’s civil defense team lead by security chief Maor Chavivian, together with fighters from the IDF Karakal Battalion of the Nahal Brigade under the command of Or Livni-Ben Yehuda waged a battle with the terrorists and managed to capture or eliminate them all, however all of the infrastructure in the moshav including communications and electricity were damaged. The residents were forced to remain in their safe rooms for over 30 hours without air conditioning, communication and without information during these critical hours.

At the entrance to one of the houses, terrorists were caught with large quantities of weapons, including an RPG. They started shooting at families in the community who miraculously were not hurt. These terrorists were eliminated, and others fled when they encountered the force of the civil defense team. In the evening, the team insisted on continuing to cleanse the area of terrorists, as they believed that there were terrorists left within Yated, and indeed found some in one of the houses and eliminated them. A day later, on October 8, several more terrorists from the surprise attack were found and eliminated by the IDF.

Major Igor Pibenev, who lives with his family in the moshav, is a police officer at the Hebron station and was on duty when the murderous surprise attack began. He immediately left his shift and made his way back to his wife and small children, when on the way he single-handedly eliminated, one by one, no less than 13 terrorists. “I’m not a hero, I did what any policeman would do. My fear began as soon as I started driving home, but my survival instincts also kicked in. I was scared… the first thing that went through my mind was that I had to get home, to see my wife. That was the most important thing. I thought every time, what can I do so that I wouldn’t get injured, and get home as quickly as possible.” At least three times along the route home, Major Pibenev stopped his car, identified the enemy, engaged, and eliminated them, before continuing on to the next scene of fighting, until he was finally reunited with his family.
Another story of incredible to heroism from Yated is the story of Nassrin Yosef, a Druse woman, wife of a military commander and Yated resident. She use her quick wit and nerves of steel to trick the Hamas terrorists into cooperating with her and reveal their location and plans. Thanks to her intervention, the army was able to locate and eliminate a huge squadron of terrorists in the area before they were able to go on the offensive.

Debi Sharon, mother of four and grandmother of three, a lawyer by profession has lived in Moshav Yated for 17 years. She recreated moment by moment that horrific day for the newspaper Makor HaRishon: “Just before 6:30 am, we jumped out of bed and ran to the safe room at the sound of the sirens. Crammed into the small room where Uriel, my autistic son was lying in his bed, with my husband and I sitting on the bed next to him, my three grandchildren and their worried parents, who had come to celebrate the holiday with us, and our two big dogs. The power went out immediately. We sat in darkness. The first five minutes were long and deafening. Despite the early hour, the sounds of automatic weapons fire, and what later turned out to be RPG barrages, quickly made it clear to us that this was no ordinary event. Lots of thoughts were running through our heads but we couldn’t speak. I stared at each of my grandchildren and thought that it was clear to me that no terrorist would have mercy on them, I didn’t know then what was happening at that very moment in the nearby communities. I didn’t know how many terrorists were in our moshav, but I knew that if they managed to get in, it would be over, and I was angry with myself for not getting an inside lock for the safe room. How did I not think of that? We will have to hold the handle with all our strength.”
She continued:
“Sunday morning, we woke up to a loud gunshot, there was another intrusion into the moshav. The cell phone network crashed, and we had no way of finding out what was going on. Worse, our other children outside of the moshav saw the news we couldn’t. A big red banner on the screens of all the channels: terrorists infiltrated Moshav Yated, while we didn’t answer the phone for hours. Neighbors informed us that they are organizing a convoy to leave. It was already noon on Sunday, over 30 hours without electricity and without communication. We were evacuating, with shooting all around and stunned reservists accompanying a convoy of sleepy residents through the fields, through what looked like a battlefield. I saw military jeeps shot and overturned and a convoy of tanks passed in front of us in the field. I heard on the radio the list of the fallen. When we get to the Tze’elim army base, the cellular network came back. I breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, but only for a short time, because then I learned that my sons were being drafted and the future in the coming months does not currently allow me to breathe fully. I know we will return to Yated in the end, but I ask myself – when will I get to cook and serve and laugh around the table again, to lean back comfortably, together with my husband, and listen to the wisdom and stories of the children and grandchildren. When and will there be this feast at all?”