The Boyum Family From Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 | Kan 7.10.360

Gil and Ayelet Buyum have lived in Kibbutz Be’eri for the past two decades with their youngest son, Adi (16). Two of their children—Omer, an active-duty soldier, Anog— live in separate homes in the kibbutz. Their eldest son, Inbar, resides with his grandmother in Sderot. In early Saturday morning, Inbar completed a night shift as a security guard at the Tipline (Trans-Israel pipeline) in Ashkelon. Gil had planned a bike ride with friends, but after it was canceled, he returned to bed. As the attack from Gaza begins and red alert sirens echo throughout the kibbutz, family members take shelter in their safe rooms. Inbar drives from his workplace to visit his girlfriend, Yuval Tal, who lives in the nearby town of Mabu'im, near Netivot. Minutes later, the kibbutz's security coordinator, Arik Kraunik, receives reports of a suspected terrorist infiltration and mobilizes the security squad, including Gil

The security squad agrees to convene at the kibbutz armory, where the weapons are stored. Ayelet urges Gil to stay, but he insists he must go. He mounts his bicycle, carrying a rifle. Along the way, he spots Yair Avital—the squad’s commander and his colleague at the Be’eri printing press—from a distance. Yair calls out for Gil to come to him, but moments later, terrorists emerge from the nearby bushes, strike Gil with a rifle, and shoot him. Yair, also armed, returns fire, prompting the terrorists to flee

Yair contacts Racheli Bankot, head of the kibbutz emergency team (Tzachi), and informs her that Gil is wounded. He asks her to call the kibbutz nurse, Nirit Honwald-Kornfeld. After receiving the message from Racheli, Nirit rushes to Gil’s location and immediately recognizes the severity of his injuries. She then calls Amit Mann, a paramedic who lives on the kibbutz, requesting her assistance and additional medical equipment. Shahar Zemach, a member of the security squad who arrives at the scene, realizes Gil must be treated in a safer location. He breaks down the door of the nearby dental clinic and carries Gil inside

The middle son, Omar Buyum, shelters in the safe room of his home in the kibbutz and writes in the family WhatsApp group: “They said there are terrorists in the kibbutz. Lock everything and turn off the lights.” Inbar, who is at his girlfriend Yuval’s house in the nearby town of Mabu'im, replies: “Please, stay safe. This is urgent.” He tells Yuval he can’t just sit idly by and heads back to his workplace in Ashkelon, determined to retrieve a weapon and return to Be’eri to help his friends. Meanwhile, Ilan Weiss—Gil’s brother-in-law and deputy head of the kibbutz emergency team—is killed outside his home while trying to open the armory for the emergency response team

Gil succumbs to his wounds in the dental clinic. At the same time, Inbar encounters terrorists at the Sha’ar HaNegev junction. They open fire, killing him instantly. According to estimates, their deaths occurred within minutes of one another. Later, Inbar’s girlfriend, Yuval, informs Ayelet that he had been called into work. Ayelet tries to reach him multiple times, but he doesn’t answer. Using a tracking app, she checks his location and discovers that his phone has stopped transmitting and is showing as last active at the Sha’ar HaNegev junction. She immediately notifies the family that contact with Inbar has been lost

Terrorists use a saw to break through a wall of the Buyum family home and force their way inside. Ayelet pleads for help in the kibbutz WhatsApp group, writing: “Please, send forces to our home. They broke in—Adi and I are here alone.” A minute later, she messages her children: “Call anyone who can help—please, they’re here.” The terrorists cut open the safe and steal valuables, including Gil’s personal pistol. They apparently use the weapon to fire at the safe room door, but fail to breach it. Afterward, they go upstairs, play the guitar, eat, and eventually leave the house

During noon hours, terrorists return to the Buyum family’s home and break in several times. They cause extensive damage but fail to breach the safe room. Around 2:05 p.m., terrorists massacre several kibbutz members at the dental clinic, where Gil’s body lies. Shahar Zemach—who had carried Gil there earlier—is killed, along with Eitan Haddad, Amit Mann, and Daniel Levi. Only Yair Avital and nurse Nirit Honwald-Kornfeld survive. Meanwhile, the Buyum family begins posting Inbar’s details on social media trying to locate him

Security forces arrive at the Buyum house and attempt to open the safe room. Adi grips the handle and demands that they identify themselves. After a few tense minutes—and Ayelet’s urging—he opens the door. The soldiers extract the two and relocate them to another house within the kibbutz. During the evacuation, an exchange of fire erupts between the soldiers and the terrorists. Ayelet notifies the family that they’ve been rescued and begins searching for information about Inbar’s condition. Later, IDF troops escort the two through several other homes before ultimately guiding them to the kibbutz entrance via the perimeter road

Ayelet reunites with Omer and Anog at the entrance to the kibbutz for the first time that day. She asks if they know where Gil is, but they respond that they do not

Ayelet evacuates to Kibbutz Shoval with three of her children—Omer, Anog, and Adi. By this time, members of the security squad are aware of Gil’s death but choose not to inform her. Later that night, Ayelet reports both Inbar and Gil as missing to the police’s missing persons unit