Kan 7.10.360 | The story of Kibbutz Zikim on October 7

Members of Kibbutz Zikim, which is less than a mile from Zikim Beach, wake up Saturday morning to the sound of incessant firing of rockets and bombs. In the same minutes, seven rubber boats with terrorists of the Hamas naval commando force penetrate Israel's maritime territory. Navy forces identify them and manage to destroy two of them. Two others, loaded with terrorists and weapons, manage to land safely on the beach and three more boats are partially damaged. The terrorists arrive at Zikim Beach and begin a campaign of murder of civilians on the beach

The Ravshatz (Military Ongoing Security Coordinator) of the kibbutz, Eviatar Amar Werbner, receives a phone call from the Navy informing him of the intrusion. He was also told that some of the terrorists were already making their way to the kibbutz, a distance of less than a mile from the coast. Eviatar calls the 12 members of the security squad who were in the kibbutz that morning to the situation room. The force is also joined by the Company Commander of the Magellan Unit, Major Y., who was on vacation at his home in the kibbutz.

Members of the security squad take up positions along the kibbutz fence close to the sea. These are concrete defensive posts about a meter high. They communicate with each other using their phones.

Four terrorists steal from the beach a Savannah vehicle, in which a Golani force arrived at the scene earlier, and drive towards the kibbutz. Six more terrorists walk there by foot

A member of the security squad, Kobi Pode, hears from his position a vehicle coming up from the sea. He speculates that these are fishermen or bathers fleeing the gunfire at the beach, but these are nine terrorists inside a military Savannah vehicle that was stolen from soldiers who came to fight them on the beach. The Savannah stops in front of Kobi, about 15 meters from the kibbutz fence, and from it two terrorists emerge dressed in black and another terrorist armed with an RPG. Kobi starts shooting at them and the terrorists return fire and hurl four explosive charges towards the fence, then retreat behind the Savannah. At the same time, a company commander in Golan, trying to reach from his home his soldiers at the nearby Yiftah base, spots the terrorists on the road next to Kibbutz Zikim. He conducts a gunfight against the squad and then enters the kibbutz and joins the security squad.

Three members of the security squad - Haim Yusunov, Danny Burda and Ravshatz Eviatar Amar Werbner - arrive to help in Kobi Pode's position. After a few minutes of relative quiet, the terrorists, who are about 15 meters from the fence, open fire at them and throw grenades. About ten grenades explode outside the concrete position and do not harm them. Afterwards, Haim spots a terrorist who has approached as far as the fence. The terrorist throws another grenade that falls in the vicinity of the post, injuring Haim and Danny. Major Y., Magellan company commander, arrives on the scene. Injured Haim and Danny are evacuated to the situation room.

From the same position from which Danny and Haim were evacuated, members of the security squad and Major Y. from Magellan detect a squad of terrorists running towards the stolen Savannah. They fire at them and a battle of about 45 minutes is carried out. The security squad manages to get the terrorists to withdraw from the kibbutz's fences. The terrorists move slightly away and set an ambush on the road that leads to the beach and bases, and shoot at passing cars.

Shabak fighter, Michael Ben Moshe, makes his way from Ashkelon to his workplace in Zikim to arm himself and go out to fight. On the way, he encounters an ambush of the terrorists on the road outside the kibbutz. Michael, armed only with a pistol, fires at the terrorists and manages to kill one of them. Eviatar the Ravshatz sees the battle from the position inside the kibbutz. He shouts to Michael and tries to explain to him from a distance where the terrorists are. The Ravshatz shoots a fire strike and yells to Michael to try to get back into his vehicle. Michael almost manages to get into the vehicle completely and is then shot and killed. He was presumed missing for six days, until his body was found.

Major Y. from the Magellan force calls five fighters from his company to the kibbutz and they arrive with three more fighters in the unit's Savannah vehicle. Major Y. meets them at the front gate of Zikim and they drive together to the intersection where the terrorists are. There, they flank the terrorists through the surrounding dunes. As they approach the squad, the security squad shoots a fire strike from the direction of the kibbutz to distract the terrorists. The fighters storm the squad and manage to kill them all. A huge amount of ammunition was found on the terrorists: rifles, grenades, RPG missiles and also a drone. Scuba diving equipment was found in the stolen Savannah vehicle with which the terrorists infiltrated Israel.

Later in the day, alerts arrived, which did not happen, about terrorists making their way to the kibbutz in stolen military vehicles, and the security squad was vigilantly on the fence. The kibbutz itself had rocket falls that caused property damage.

A protected IDF vehicle arrives to evacuate families with small children from the kibbutz. The local security team is allowing residents to evacuate from the kibbutz independently - and a large group is being evacuated. Members of the security squad continue to guard the fences of the kibbutz, as Hamas continues to launch rockets from Gaza.

After about 18 hours in the guard positions, members of the security squad gradually begin returning to their homes, with a force of paratroopers replacing them.