"The Human Wall That Remained": Elia Ben Shimol’s Courage in the Face of Terror at Kerem Shalom

"The terrorists breached the concrete walls, but the human wall remained."

Three years before that fateful Saturday, Elia Ben Shimol, a former Golani fighter, was appointed as the security officer of Kerem Shalom. He was involved in protecting the residents, fitness training, and cooperating with the fighters who held the line in the sector. "This is a total dedication to the community's security," he attests, "I am the link between the army and the kibbutz, and this is a full-time job in every sense."

And then came the moment when that "position" brought him face to face with death - and he charged forward, on a Saturday that began peacefully and familiarly, and turned into a difficult and intense battle moment. "If I had to give it a title, I would say it was a crazy day," he begins to recount.

With the first rocket barrages, he summoned his eight comrades from the alert unit, along with four Nahal Brigade fighters who were stationed at the kibbutz at the time. "Since 07:00 - we've been moving from battle to battle, from event to event," he continues, "it started at one end of the settlement with a number of terrorists, continued with an explosion in another area - and we're managing both battles simultaneously."

During the encounter with them, another threat emerged: dozens of terrorists surrounding the northern area of the settlement and approaching a family's house, which hurriedly reported to Elia about screams in Arabic coming from the yard. "The terrorists broke into the building and attached an explosive device to the bomb shelter door," describes the security officer, "when we arrived, we already saw the unfolding of events from there - and immediately took action."

Every decision I made, every command I gave, had an impact and perhaps even made the difference between life and death.

In a fierce battle, they managed to save and rescue the eight family members. They hurried to apply a tourniquet to the injured father and realized that during the fight, they had also lost two members of the alert squad - Amichai Weitzman, of blessed memory, and Hadida Raziel, of blessed memory.

They continue to fight against the terrorists who keep blowing up the defensive walls in the kibbutz and trying to penetrate deeper. They did this for long hours until a large reinforcement force from the Bislach Brigade arrived. And that wasn't the end: "Shortly after, during the searches we conducted, another barrage of rockets began - in which the last fighter from the battle in the kibbutz fell."

The odds were against them, the ammunition was scarce, and yet - Eliya Ben Shimol and the 12 other fighters prevented a much greater disaster, and he has one explanation for it: "The terrorists did breach the concrete walls, but the human wall remained steadfast and the fighting spirit led us forward."

We go back to those moments, 14 months later, and over time, many thoughts emerge that were not anticipated in the heat of battle. "Suddenly, I realize that every decision I made, every command I gave, had an impact and perhaps even made the difference between life and death," he shares, "I think about the instructions I gave to the soldiers and wonder what would have happened if I had acted differently."

And no matter what, he will forever remember what happened there - when his family was within reach: "I sent my wife a dot every now and then, as a kind of sign of life. It was a difficult decision to part from them in such moments and go fight, but we knew it was what needed to be done, and I will never forget the madness of it all."

Last week, he and three other sergeants: Harel Oren (Ra'im), Beni Meshulam (Shlomit), and Andrei Dostov (Avshalom), received certificates of excellence from the Southern Brigade of the Gaza Division. "Although the four of us were the representatives, our story is no different from any of our comrades in the role," he asserts, "they are all heroes and dedicated, and it's important to know and feel that our efforts are appreciated."

"There is no doubt that there are difficult moments in this role. My family has been evacuated, and I am still here in the kibbutz," he shares. "But at the same time, I remember well the reason I took on this role: the mission, the values - and ultimately, saving lives."

This article was shared and contributed by the IDF official website.