Kan 7.10.360| The story of the Sderot police station on October 7th

Non-stop alarms across Sderot. The Police announces steep-track shooting scenario in the city

Dozens of terrorists infiltrate the city from the southern entrance. The terrorists, armed and well-trained, hit the Swissa family at the square at the entrance to the city and continue driving in two vans toward the police station

A white van with about ten terrorists in it pulls up in front of the west side of the station, and its passengers prepare for an assault. Moments later, another van joins them with about 10 more terrorists. Its passengers quickly unload in front of the station and open with massive gunfire at the building. A black-colored car with four terrorists arrives at the intersection of Mivtza Kadsh-Herzl streets. Three of them unload from the car and begin to march towards the station. They settle on the access routes to the station and block them. The rest of the terrorists commence battle. Their goal: taking over the station

The terrorists systematically fire at the entrances of the station building. Among other things, they shoot an accurate RPG directly into one of the offices in the building. About 20 terrorists simultaneously storm into the station through the main entrance. Upon their entry, heavy gunfire ensues by the terrorists that remain outside to prevent the arrival of reinforcements. The terrorists shoot anyone who passes by on the road and anyone who tries to join the fighting

Sharon Allal, one of the policemen who tried to reach the station, absorbs heavy barrages of fire. He manages to evade them and hides in a shelter adjacent to the station; he will be rescued after a few hours. Two policemen who come out of the station to fight, Maj. Eliyahu Michael Harush and Sergeant Ram Ravey, are shot by the terrorists. Harush falls at the entrance to the station, and Ravey retreats into the structure after experiencing a weapons malfunction. Ravey goes back inside while yelling for everyone to climb fast to the roof of the building. At the same time, outside the station, Sergeant Major Adir Shlomo, who arrived in the area, is killed and shot at point-blank range, and Agos Wal, an Eritrean citizen who passes by is killed by the terrorists' gunfire

Two vehicles, that of the Swissa family and that of policeman Shmuel Golima, travel on the road leading to the station and are hit by a terrorist who ambushed them on the roadside. Officer Golima, Odaya Swissa, and Amer Abu Sabila are killed on the spot. Swissa's two daughters remain in the vehicle and scream for help.

Lieutenant Colone Meir Abergel, the investigations coordinator for the Sderot Police, arrives at the station to assist in the fighting. The terrorists open fire at him, and his vehicle collides with a pillar. The terrorists approach the vehicle and dead-check him.

A policeman hears the cries of Romi and Lia Swissa, who are still in the vehicle where their mother, Odaya, lies dead as does a civilian who volunteered to help them named Amer Abu Sabila. Rounds of gunfire open towards him, and he retreats. Soon after, they are rescued from there by Yair Avinoam, a member of the municipal security squad.

A police force tries to break into the station and is surprised by the large amount of entrenched terrorists. At the moment of entry, they are hit by an intense fire, and grenades are thrown at them. With some injured, the force is stuck in the stairwell with no possibility of being rescued

One of the fighters identifies a terrorist shooting accurate gunfire from a controlling position. He takes a firearm from a soldier who has arrived on the scene, goes up the stairs of a nearby building, and knocks on doors. When one of the occupants lets him in, he goes to the restroom window, cuts the net, and from there shoots and neutralizes the terrorist who was sniping at everyone passing by in the area.

In a second break-in attempt, a National Counter-Terrorism unit squad enters the police building. Two fighters are hurt, but they manage to extract the policemen who were stuck in the staircase in the first break-in attempt. During the advance of the force within the building, the fighters are hit by heavy fire while using charges. They manage to kill two terrorists, but seven of them are injured. Four were evacuated for medical treatment, and three continued to fight despite the injury.

After about two hours of diversion operations to allow infiltration via the roof, National Counter-Terrorism Unit' fighters ascend to the building using a fire truck ladder with a basket. While exchanging fire with the terrorists, they extract from the roof and from the top floor the policemen who had been positioned there since that morning, some of them wounded. After the evacuation of the policemen, a dog with a camera was sent to scan the station, but it was shot by the terrorists. Later, another dog was sent. After about four hours during which they repeatedly tried to break into the floors where the terrorists were staying, the fighters realized that the structure was booby-trapped with many explosive charges

Twelve hours from the beginning of the incident, the senior command decides to demolish the police station building with the terrorists who are barricaded in it. The task is difficult due to the complexity of the structure, which includes a row of sheltered rooms and shelters. After believing that all living policemen have already been rescued, preparations begin to demolish the structure. In a final sweep before demolition began, an injured policeman was found on the roof of the building under rubble. The terrorists realize the forces are preparing for the destruction of the structure and they try to escape, several of them manage to retreat back to the station - but most are killed by defense forces.

A tank fires three shells at the station and an Apache helicopter launches a missile at it to neutralize the terrorists before demolishing the building.

The demolition team gets the final approval to demolish the police station. Heavy tools like a D9 and a military bulldozer, operate for hours and collapse the structure on the bombers in it. The demolition operation continues until Sunday morning

After hours of engineering work, the structure of the police station building completely collapses. Forces scan the area and announce the end of the incident