Magen
established
Regional Council
Population (Pre 7/10/2023)
Distance From The Gaza Border
Type Of Community
Economy
Kibbutz Magen (Hebrew for “Shield”) was established in 1949 by two different nuclei of the Hashomer HaTzair movement – one nucleus of residents from within Israel, and a second nucleus of immigrants from Romania, some of whom spent about a year in the detention camps in Cyprus after the Holocaust. Within the kibbutz there is an observation point called Givat HaSheikh (The Sheikh Hill), which is the highest point in the entire area, for it there’s a panoramic view of the Eshkol Regional Council communities and the southern Gaza Strip. Magen has a cooperative nature, but also provides various opportunities for entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on social solidarity.
Magen operates many field crops and a dairy farm, in cooperation with Kibbutz Gvulot and Be’eri and the “Magen Eco-Energy” factory producing solar energy systems. Within the Kibbutz there are a variety of community services, including: a medical clinic, a grocery store, a laundry, a garage, a carpentry shop, a locksmith’s shop, a library, sports fields, a playground, a zoological garden “ZOO-Havahiya”, an educational activity center for parents and toddlers, and an art gallery named “Steam Gallery”.
In April 2023, Kibbutz Magen was privatized, in the format of a renewing kibbutz while maintaining the pension rights of the kibbutz members, a social safety net, as well as the distribution of capital, differential wages and a transition to paid services.
KKL-JNF and Kibbutz Magen
The Events of October 7, 2023
Kibbutz Magen was attacked by a squad of about 20-40 Hamas terrorists as part of the surprise attack on Israel on Saturday morning, October 7. The kibbutz was spared the horrors of its neighbors, thankfully, due to the miraculous and heroic actions of the kibbutz’s security chief Baruch Cohen and the small civil defense team led by Nadav Roth, that managed to repel the attack.
Baruch retells the events of that day: “On Saturday morning, I grabbed my weapon, and went upstairs to my observation post. I had already called the civil defense team. Then I got a call from a security guard who told me ‘Baruch, two motorcycles just passed us and shot and killed our guard.’ I allowed myself to leave the community to chase after them. I came across the first motorcyclist, and while driving next to him, hit him with a few bullets. Then I decided to go back, and as I arrive at the kibbutz, I saw around 30-40 terrorists and I understood that if I didn’t stop them where they were, they would enter the kibbutz.” Cohen says he pointed his weapon through the window and began to shooting the terrorists: “Meanwhile, my team was deployed and shooting and doing everything necessary. Suddenly, I was hit by an RPG missile. I looked down and saw that from the ankle down, I had no foot.”
Civil defense team member Eran Zoraf, upon receiving the call to arms, immediately raced up to the Sheikh Hill, the highest point in the kibbutz and saw, about 250 meters in front of him, the terrorists in khaki uniforms and military boots, breaking through the fence and trying to enter. He says, “The terrorists did everything calmly, put down the bags, walked back, even smiled.” Eran opened fire on them, confusing and delaying them. The terrorist outnumbered the small civil defense team. At 9:00 an IDF Apache helicopter arrived from the east, fired on the terrorists and their vehicles.
At about 11:00 a column of smoke was seen rising from the east. It turns out that the terrorists attacked and set fire to the “Paz Eshkol” gas station. The gas station is on road 232 next to the Ma’on factories, and near the southern entrance to Kibbutz Magen. From the northwest Nir Oz and Nirim were burning. The civil defense team witnessed a convoy of tractors leaving Nir Oz towards the Gaza Strip, but didn’t realize at that time that it was the looting convoy kidnapping many hostages from Nir Oz to Gaza.
At 1:30 pm, the first IDF jeeps appeared, a force of three from the commando Special Forces unit Egoz, with another force arriving at 2:30 pm. They set out on foot in the direction of the terrorists’ retreat. On the other side a helicopter landed, dropping another group of soldiers. The Egoz unit eliminated the terrorists, also rescuing a boy from Nir Oz who was found there.
During the fighting, one of the members of the civil defense team, Avi Fleischer, was killed. The wounded received initial treatment in the field from a local doctor, Dr. Shani Caspi, and she and her partner evacuated the three wounded to Kibbutz Revivim, where they were transferred to hospitals.
On October 8, there was another attempt to infiltrate the kibbutz, which the IDF repelled and on October 9, the remaining residents were evacuated to hotels by the Dead Sea.
