Stories of heroism from the battles in the kibbutzim and in Re'im are beginning to emerge. One of these stories of heroism is about Yoav Sheli, who defied death for hours against dozens of terrorists and prevailed over them.
On the Facebook account of the user Ofir Sheli, the full story is told: "Sheli serves in a combat unit, and last week, after a long period, he asked for a leave to be with his friends at a big party. He and three of his friends from the unit arrived at the party and danced to their enjoyment. As soon as the shooting started, Yoav understood what was happening. He called his father and informed him that there was chaos but not to worry. Amid the gunfire, he called to reassure his parents."
Yoav has a friend from Kibbutz Be'eri. So he gathered his friends, and they ran towards the kibbutz. Even at the entrance to the kibbutz, they encountered terrorists. However, the terrorists didn't quite realize who was standing before them. Heroes of Israel!
Fought like lions and eliminated 20 terrorists
Yoav immediately took cover behind an overturned car and then discovered an Israeli who had been killed, holding a weapon in his hand inside the car. Yoav took the fallen man's weapon, signaling to his friends to follow him, and they advanced towards the confrontation. All possibilities to escape from there were open to them, but heroes are a different breed of people.
They sneaked into their friend's apartment in Bari, and their friend was at home. Yoav told everyone to put on IDF uniforms. Yoav's friend had enough uniforms since he was also a soldier. They found and changed into uniforms because Yoav understood they could be mistaken for terrorists, and he was worried about friendly fire. His friend took his personal weapon, gave another friend an extra weapon that was lying in the area, and they made contact with someone they knew was in the kibbutz's reserve unit. Through the phone and during the battle, they connected to the reserve unit.
He further describes: "The battles were tough, and after a quarter of an hour, only three of them remained in the area. They fought like lions and eliminated around 20 terrorists, but Yoav understood that there were many more terrorists, and this was a lost battle from the start. They entered a house where there were terrorists with captured Israelis."
Saved dozens of civilians while fighting
Even these terrorists didn't understand who they were dealing with. A short battle, and our heroes took control of the house and brought the civilians to a bomb shelter. After the civilians were in the bomb shelter, Yoav and his friends went back to the area, brought Israeli civilians into the apartment and to the bomb shelter. Every ten minutes - going out to save civilians, all while the battle raged on.
From one of the terrorists they had eliminated, they took a Kalashnikov, and Yoav sent a kibbutz member to take a position on the roof. From this position, the kibbutz member eliminated another eight terrorists. This continued for many hours.
Finally, the story continues, "He identified Israeli soldiers in the area. Yoav recognized that they were from the Sayeret Shaldag unit and personally contacted the unit's commander, directing the forces towards the house. When Sayeret Shaldag arrived, Yoav shouted to them that this was the house and they were soldiers. They joined Shaldag's forces and fought until the end of the event. And they won!"
And so he summarizes, "These are acts of heroism that will enter the history books of the Jewish people. In the picture, we see Yoav receiving recognition for being an outstanding soldier. Well, will the Hamas terrorists ever defeat ones like him? All that's left is to salute!!"