EXCLUSIVE: ‘They were laughing and it was like they were having fun just killing all those young people’: Israeli civilians hiding in their safe rooms as they hear roaming squads of Hamas gunmen outside reveal their terror to MailOnline

• Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on Israel, with several hundred dead 

Israelis hiding from Hamas terrorists while locked in safe rooms near the Gaza border have revealed their horror at the attacks as they reveal tragic details such as friends killed, a massacre at a rave and hearing squads of Hamas gunmen outside.

Israeli medical student Bar Mizrachi, who was visiting his parents at their kibbutz two kilometres from the Gaza border, said he knew as soon as the rockets started at 6.30am that something was different about this attack.

‘We are used to missiles and rockets coming over but the rate of the attack was something else,’ says the 29-year-old, whose family was woken by alarm at Kibbutz Given seconds before the rocket attacks started. 

‘I had a really bad feeling about it. The noise didn’t stop for twenty minutes and then we started to hear a lot of alarms, firearms and bombs.’

Each of the southern kibbitzes have units made up of members who were in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and his kibbutz was protected as Hamas terrorists attempted to attack them.

 Israeli medical student Bar Mizrachi (left), pictured with his parents in a safe room in their kibbutz

Eden Bart was also hiding with her family in their kibbutz – Kfar Aza – and could hear gunfire from the nearby Kibbutz Nahal Oz

Hamas claimed to have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel from the occupied Gaza Strip, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Photos and videos online appear to show Hamas gunmen taking citizens hostage

This young woman was seen being dragged out of the back of a truck by a gunman, where she had been crammed with her hands bound despite clearly having injuries

‘They managed to repel the terrorists but two of our people were injured and one of them is now missing,’ said Bar. 

‘The unit is going from door to door checking everyone is ok but it’s a very frightening and confusing time as people are saying Hamas are also dressing up as our soldiers and knocking on doors.’

Israel has confirmed that seven kibbitzes in the south – Nir Kitzhak, Nahal Oz, Nirim, Sufah, Magen, Holit, Nativ Ha’asara – are still subject to huge gunfire fights between Hamas militants and the IDF. 

‘It is a constantly moving situation,’ said a spokesman.

Bar, his mother Gila, 59 and father Sufa, 66, were still in their safe room as they spoke to MailOnline.

One of their family friends told them she had been forced to hide in the bushes for her life when the Palestinians, in one of their first acts, attacked a rave in the early hours of Kibbutz Reim.

‘There were gunshots and she went to hide in the bushes and she could hear voices in Arabic just shooting everyone on sight,’ he says. 

‘They were laughing and it was like they were having fun just killing all those young people. Pictures were there posted on Al Jazeera showing militants standing over many bodies.’

The Israeli Embassy has confirmed that ‘many’ were left dead or missing at the rave.

Bar, his mother Gila, 59 and father Sufa, 66, were still in their safe room as they spoke to MailOnline

Many Israelis are waiting in their safe rooms with no idea when they might be able to leave

A man runs in the road as fires burn in Ashkelon, Israel, following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip initiated by Islamic militant group Hamas

A rocket is launched from the coastal Gaza strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas movement, in Gaza City, 7 October 2023

One of his mother’s colleagues from a nearby kibbutz was also murdered because when the terrorists got into her house, her safe room was not locked. 

‘We are used to rocket attacks – we don’t expect people to try and come into our houses,’ says Bar.

READ MORE: Who are Hamas? Everything you need to know about the Palestinian terror movement that has launched war on Israel 

While a cousin in another kibbutz told Bar’s parents that while they were in the safe room of their house, they could hear Palestinians sitting in their nearby lounge. 

‘And we’ve just been told about a woman in labour in her safe room – and the terrorists have just torched her house. We know a lot of people who are saying that their fathers or their sisters have been kidnapped.’

Bar admitted he had no idea when his family would be able to leave their safe room. ‘We don’t know what is going to happen next – and we are really worried about the hostages. We just hope that we get our people back,’ he said.

Another Israeli student, Eden Bart, was also hiding with her family in their kibbutz – Kfar Aza – and could hear gunfire from the nearby Kibbutz Nahal Oz, one kilometre away. The family’s saferoom is in the basement of their house – and they were still hiding in there. 

An air raid siren and then a bomb went off as MailOnline spoke to 27-year-old Eden who was in the safe room with her parents, two siblings and the family dog.

‘We raced downstairs as soon as the bomb alert went off,’ she recalls. ‘And then we heard rockets, bombs, plans, missiles, helicopters. The big difference with this attack is that there has been infiltration. 

Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, October 7, 2023

Israeli police officers evacuate a family from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, October 7, 2023

‘We can hear a lot of rifles, machine guns and some screaming – we think it is from the kibbutz next to ours which has been occupied by Hamas.

‘The only contact with the outside world has been via our phones. We are a religious family so normally we would not have our phone on during the shabbat but we knew people would be worried about us. 

‘Some people that we know have been killed in the kibbutz next door and in other places. We are still trying to find relatives and friends – no one knows where these people are.’

The kibbutz’s militia of men who were formerly in the IDF were stationed on the road outside but Eden admitted it was a terrifying time: ‘My grandparents are alone in their house across the street, there are lots of people who are alone and we don’t know what is happening. We are sitting here feeling very stressed and fearing for our lives, particularly as we know what is going on a very short distance from us.’

Even if the IDF does manage to secure the kibbutz, Eden admits she was also fearful of what was to come: ‘We have all been living like this for a long time – we need peace. But things are likely to get much worse – both for us and the citizens of Gaza who are also the victims of Hamas.’

Source: Read Full Article