Kipnis family
The terrorists repeatedly returned to the Bachar family's safe room: at first they tried to open the door, then they shot and hit the father Avida and the 15-year-old son Carmel, then they drilled a hole in the window of the safe room, threw grenades and murdered the mother, Dana. Later that day, Carmel died of his injuries.
The Bachar family
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When the alarms start, parents Avida and Dana and their children Hadar (13) and Carmel (15) do not enter the safe room. Avida, who has recognized that this is an unusual sequence of alarms, exists with Carmel to the courtyard of the house. They look to the sky to see if Israeli Air Force jets are operating in the area
Dana and Avida receive the alert about the infiltration of terrorists. Together with their children, they arrange a long stay in the safe room: Carmel takes kitchen knives with him for protection and Dana brings pots for defecating. Soon after, Dana, a kindergarten teacher at the kibbutz, calls Moran the aide and updates her on the infiltration of the terrorists: “It's real, go into the safe room”
Avida seeks help from his acquaintances in the media and writes them a sequence of messages: “May the army come quickly to HaKerem neighborhood of Beeri... They're burning houses and shooting... Why isn't the army fighting here? Come quickly!!! They're KILLING US!!!“. At the same time, Dana updates in the family WhatsApp group: “We hear them,” referring to terrorists who are in the Kibbutz and are approaching their home
The terrorists break into the family home and go directly to the safe room. “Open the door,” one of the terrorists calls out in Arabic towards Avida, while he and Carmel are holding the door handle from the inside. Avida answers him in Arabic “Go.” The terrorist calls on Avida to open the door once more
After Avida fails to answer the call to open the safe room, one of the terrorists fires a burst at the door. Several bullets hit Carmel's hand and he is seriously injured. Minutes later, one of the terrorists calls once more for Avida to open the door, but Avida refuses and shouts at him: “They're all children here.” The terrorists in response shoot another burst at the door. Avida was hurt in both legs. his right leg is severely hurt.
After her father and brother are injured, 13-year-old Hadar tries to hide behind a suitcase and opens a sort of situation room to get aid to her injured family members. She calls the rescue forces to ask for immediate rescue and assistance. A Magen David Adom employee instructs her by telephone on how to care for the wounded. At the same time, Dana updates in a Kibbutz WhatsApp group that Avida and Carmel are seriously injured
More terrorists enter the house and set fire to the door of the safe room. The safe room fills with smoke which makes it very difficult to breathe. The pots that family members filled with urine in the morning are used by family members as a source of oxygen: Avida explains that he and Carmel “put towels with urine on their faces and breathe air that is filtered a bit”
The terrorists surround the house and try to break into the safe room through the rear window and place an explosive charge in order to blow up the wall. They manage to pierce the iron plate of the safe room window and throw three grenades into the room. Hadar and Avida are wounded by shrapnel, the sofa in the safe room absorbs most of the blast
Terrorists who continue to circulate outside the house notice Dana's movement inside the safe room. Through the hole they made in the window, they shoot at her accurately and murder her. Avida and Dana's eldest son who is staying abroad, instructs Hadar on how to perform CPR on the mother, but without success. The slit through which the terrorists shot and threw grenades allows smoke to go outside and ventilates the safe room. In retrospect, Avida would explain that this opening probably saved their lives, as they would otherwise have died of asphyxiation
Hadar, who is lying under the suitcase, calls the Magen David Adom hotline and receives instructions on how to treat Avida's injured leg
Hadar tells her father that “Carmel is on his last breaths”. Soon after, he dies of his injuries. In his last moments, he turns to his father and asks: “Bury me with the surfboard.” Hadar, who realizes that Carmel is also dead, uses her mother's cellphone and records a message in one of the Kibbutz's WhatsApp groups: “Come now, our house has been blown up. Mom and Carmel are dead.”
Fighters from the Yahalom unit of the Israeli Engineering Corps arrive to rescue the family members. One of the fighters who arrives at the house tells his friends that “there is a massacre here.” Avida informs him that there are two fatalities in the safe room. Hadar helps the fighters break through the window of the safe room and exits through it, two other fighters help Avida get out through the house since he could not get out of the window. Troops assist in evacuating the two to Soroka Hospital
Avida and Hadar are hospitalized in separate wards at Soroka Hospital. Hadar undergoes surgery on her leg
Avida and Hadar Bachar at Soroka Hospital.
Photo: Kan News A few days after being hospitalized, Avida is informed that he has lost his leg. He entered a lengthy rehabilitation procedure at Tel Hashomer Hospital
Avida is released from Tel Hashomer Hospital and returns to work as director of agriculture at the Kibbutz
