Benny Hasson, spokesman for Kibbutz Kissufim, describes what he went through on the Shabbat of Simchat Torah, about the grenades that did not explode, about the 22-hour stay in the residential secure space, about the miracles he saw. With tears he tells about the Jewish code that rescued them, about the mobilization of the people of Israel and the desire to return home to the kibbutz.
"The night before, we celebrated Simchat Torah Eve as usual. There was a red alert, we entered the residential secure space and I hear an improbable shot in the direction of the house. My doors are metal doors and I hear shooting again. I told my wife there is a problem here."
Benny saw a grenade being thrown at him, closed himself in the secure space and noticed that every twenty minutes to half an hour, another grenade was thrown at his house. "That's how they threw four grenades and by a great miracle, none of them exploded."
22 hours in hell
The miracles continue to surround Benny and he says, "Over time, we realized that our secure space was under attack. I have two such spaces at home, I don't know why I decided to build another one, I have no explanation for everything. We moved to the second secure space and heard on the roof a strong fall of an RPG bomb. It didn't explode. We were in the secure space for 22 hours and the terrorists are shooting at the first space while we weren't there."
A short time after entering the secure space, the power went out. "I received notifications from the coop that the power went out. I realized that someone had turned off the switch. I immediately received a message that the generator started working. Five minutes later the generator stopped working, the terrorists hit that as well."
"I told them I will shout something at you and you answer"
Benny continues to describe the stay in the secure space and the rescue with tears of excitement. "22 hours in hell, after 22 hours I hear: 'The IDF, the IDF. Open." The whole 22 hours I asked myself how I would distinguish between the IDF and terrorists. I said I will shout something to you and you respond. I shouted "Hear O Israel" and they answered "the Lord our God, the Lord is One."
The IDF rescued Benny and his wife from the house, while a shootout was taking place. The soldiers explained to him that it was impossible to rescue him to outside the kibbutz at the moment. Benny pointed to his car and asked for permission to go out alone, he received permission. "I drove down an unfamiliar side road, I hear a boom and keep driving like a madman, they threw a grenade at me, shot at the car and nothing happened."
"The greatness of the people of Israel stood before me"
Benny describes how the embrace of the people of Israel revived them. "We left almost naked. In a moment the greatness of the people of Israel was standing before me, everything!! Psychologists, social workers, every material necessity. Everything! The great spirit and responsibility of the hotel manager who realized that there was an event here. We even had a baby girl born in the kibbutz, she made sure that she had a Zeved HaBat (celebration for female infant) with initiative and care."
When I ask Benny what's next, he presents three options: "The plan is to stay in the hotel for 6-7 months. We have established educational, medical, and support infrastructures with the head of the Eshkol Council. From here, one of the options is temporary housing in one of the settlements that are close to the south and not within shooting range or within sound range within an existing kibbutz. A second option is to move to a building - a tower in the city and live in it as a community. A third option is to wait until we can return and rebuild our home."
Benny emphasizes "Our demand is not to return to the Gaza Strip envelope if we don't feel 100 percent safe, there are too many abducted and killed."
To my question if he supports Israeli control of Gaza, Benny replied, "I don't know. We have requests. If we don't accept it, there will be no one. They disfigured the bodies. This is not an army against an army. People were burned inside their homes. They were burned alive. Whoever came to Kissufim a week ago, the smell of death was everywhere. All the agriculture went down the drain."
The cowshed manager returned to feed the cows and was killed
Kibbutz Kissufim has a large cowshed. Six days after the massacre, the manager of the barn, Reuven Heinik, wanted to go feed the cows, he got permission from the army and he went with a group of friends. After they finished feeding the cows, they ran into a terrorist squad in Kissufim and Reuven, the manager of the cowshed, was killed."
Benny points out, "Even after ten days there were terrorists inside the houses. Today it is impossible to go there."
Benny raises Kissufim's poultry, they didn't eat or drink for ten days. "We euthanized them and everything had to be evacuated. I got there, but I didn't get to my house. It's forbidden to go there, the place is still intercepted from all directions."
"We want to go back"
In conclusion, Benny strongly states, "With everything we have seen and experienced, most of us want to return home to Kissufim. This is our life work, this is our life."