BE’ER SHEVA, ISRAEL | As we make our way around southern Israel, locals recount the horrors of those killed and tales of survival about those who shouldn’t be alive, but are.
: A shoot-out between Israeli cops and Palestinian terrorists. Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Kill or be killed. Daniel Damri’s story of October 7 sounds like a video game. But as he recounts his survival to us from his hospital bed it was clear this wasn’t virtual reality, itreality. The limitless barbarity and bravery of which mankind is capable is on gruesome display, here in the dusty plains of the Negev Desert.
Driving towards Gaza, Damri encountered a car heading towards him. Realising it could be terrorists, he made a U-turn, parked and took aim. He had shot two Hamas terrorists dead. Continuing onto the village of Kibbutz Re’im, he and his fellow officers found the bodies of at least eight young party-goers who had fled a music festival that became a massacre. Damri called for police reinforcements: his team of 10 was outnumbered and outgunned by Hamas fighters armed with high-calibre weapons.
Officials at Soroka say they have treated over 900 patients from the attacks, with around 50 still remaining at the hospital. The sense of unity that has erupted in Israel, a nation previously riven with debate about the Netanyahu government’s push to overhaul the judiciary, is palpable here. Volunteers from across the country have streamed in to make coffee and prepare food for staff and patients.
As he recounts this tale, Butzchak’s face lights up with sudden delight. Jerusalem’s Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, enters the ward to express his gratitude. Never could he have imagined a small-town rabbi would be visited by one of the nation’s most important religious figures. He’s proud of what he and his comrades achieved.Kate Geraghty
Sitting outside the cemetery is Israel Revach, a man who shares a name with the country he loves. The sound that haunts most from October 7 is not the bombs. Nor the bullets the terrorists sprayed with murderous abandon throughout Ofakim. What haunts him is the macabre symphony of ringtones he heard emanating from inside the body bags. Frantic calls to loved ones who had already left this world and would never pick up the mobile phone vibrating in their pockets.
Revach, 39, is a man of action who needs to keep busy to keep the demons at bay. It’s the only way to stop thinking about that girl, aged 17 or so, dressed up for a party, looking so beautiful and full of promise, lying in a body bag with her mobile phone ringing beside her. Was it her father calling, he wonders, checking to see if she was alive? He would like to have answered, but he wasn’t authorised to do so.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israel Hamas: Penny Wong warns Israel evacuation flights could ceaseAnother 250 Australians, their families and citizens from other countries left Israel on Australian evacuation flights on Sunday night.
Read more »
Israel-Hamas war live: Israel announces evacuation of residents within 2km zone next to LebanonPlan includes evacuation of 28 settlements after exchanges of fire with Hezbollah, say Israel Defence Forces and ministry of defence
Read more »
Hamas Israel: Israel prepares for war on two fronts, Iran warns of regional conflictWorld leaders step up efforts to curb the conflict, as Israel prepares its invasion of Gaza and skirmishes intensify on the border with Lebanon.
Read more »
Israel-Gaza war live: 'Imminent' ground invasion of Gaza complicated by torrential rain across southern IsraelAs Israel continue their preparations for a ground assault in Gaza, wet weather batters the region and complicated plans for the offensive. Follow live.
Read more »
Israel-Gaza: Why a Gaza Invasion is wrong for IsraelIf Israel announced today that it was forgoing, for now, a full-blown invasion of Gaza, who would be happy, who would be relieved, and who would be upset?
Read more »
Israel Hamas: 45 Australians stuck in Gaza as Greens, teals face backlash over Israel voteFears are rising for Australians stranded in the Palestinian enclave as a deal over setting up a “humanitarian corridor” allowing foreign nationals to leave falters.
Read more »