Hammer Family in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha | 07.10.360

As red alerts sound through Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, Gal Hammer and his wife, Maayan Sagi, both 45, rush from their bedroom to their home’s safe room, which also serves as the bedroom for their children — Yarden (13), Mapal (11) and Hof (9). The children remain asleep, while the family’s dogs, Jinga and her puppy Shmulik, are left outside the safe room

During a brief lull in the rocket fire, Gal gathers the family dogs and retrieves his and Maayan's cell phones before locking the safe room from the inside. Around the same time, their children wake up

A few years earlier, Gal managed a diving club in Tel Aviv. As news of the attacks in the region unfolds, his friends from the club message him in their shared WhatsApp group to check on his welfare. He replies briefly, “We’re locked inside the safe room.”

Terrorists storm the Hammer family’s home, causing extensive damage and stealing valuables. Twice they attempt to break into the safe room where the family is hiding, but the door holds firm. Years earlier, Gal installed a lock that could be fully secured from the inside of the room, a measure that now protects the family's lives. For an hour, the family remains silent as the terrorists ransack the house. Eventually, the terrorists leave, taking the stolen items with them. During the ordeal, Gal manages to communicate with a friend, who alerts security forces and also informs members of the kibbutz emergency team via a local WhatsApp group of the Hammer's situation

Gal's friend contacts security forces, informing them that terrorists have broken into the Hammer family’s home. He then reassures Gal, writing: “The Counter-Terrorism Unit is aware of your situation and location.” Moments later, Gal reports that the terrorists are attempting to breach the safe room again. He also urges his friend to update the kibbutz management and notify the emergency team about the escalating situation

Around 20 counter-terrorism operatives storm the house and find a terrorist lying shirtless and unarmed on a mattress near the safe room. They restrain him with handcuffs. Knocking on the safe room door, they call out, “Who’s there?” Gal responds, saying he is inside with his wife and children. However, he fears it might be a deceptive tactic used by the terrorists to lure him out. Cautiously, he opens the door slightly and sees that these are indeed security forces. Once the door is fully opened, he notices the operatives questioning the restrained terrorist, who has his eyes covered. Taking advantage of the soldiers’ presence, Gal and his family step out of the safe room to use the restroom and gather food and water

After security forces apprehended the terrorist from the Hammer family's home, they instructed the family members to remain in their safe room until the kibbutz had been thoroughly searched. At approximately 10 p.m., Gal prepared hamburgers for his family in the safe room

Maayan and Gal survey their home after the looting, discovering it is completely vandalised, with their vehicles also damaged. They clean the house and prepare to evacuate the kibbutz

Gal takes the dogs, Jinga and Shmulik, to a friend’s home in the settlement of Meitar. Later that night, he arrives at a hotel in Eilat, where the kibbutz members have been evacuated. Meanwhile, Maayan and the children are transported to Eilat by a military truck with other kibbutz residents. They reunite with Gal at the hotel on Monday morning