Kibbutz Gevim was left exposed on Oct. 7; residents’ defense averted massacre — probe

An internal Israel Defense Forces investigation into the October 7, 2023, assault on Kibbutz Gevim found that the community was left to fend for itself, with the local security squad holding off Hamas terrorists for hours, in the absence of military protection. The probe, cleared for publication Tuesday, concluded that their stand prevented a far greater tragedy.

The investigation, led by Lt. Col. (res.) Israel Shitrit and approved by former Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, is part of a wider set of inquiries into the IDF’s conduct during Hamas’s unprecedented attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed across southern Israel and 251 were taken hostage to Gaza. Investigators relied on survivor testimony, surveillance recordings, operational logs, and site reconstructions.

According to the findings, Gevim was attacked by a squad of eight Hamas terrorists who arrived by vehicle under the cover of a massive rocket barrage targeting the western Negev.

While there were no Israeli fatalities within the kibbutz itself, the community lost two members that day: Ziv Hagbi, 29, who was murdered trying to flee the Nova music festival, and Shlomi Davidovich, 50, who was killed in a roadside bomb shelter, having taken refuge there during his morning bike ride.

Timeline of the attack

At 6:29 a.m., sirens sounded across the region as rockets were fired from Gaza. By 6:58 a.m., terrorists apparently coming from the direction of Kfar Aza reached industrial facilities close to Gevim, part of a wave of infiltrations across the border.

Sensing the danger, the security coordinator called his deputy to the gate at 7:10 a.m., and three minutes later, the deputy alerted the standby squad via WhatsApp, ordering all members to arm themselves. At that time, only five rifles were in circulation, with most weapons stored in the kibbutz’s armory.

At 7:21 a.m., a pickup truck carrying Hamas fighters drove past the Sha’ar HaNegev junction en route to Gevim. A minute later, the group attempted but failed to enter the gas station adjacent to the kibbutz. By 7:25 a.m., they arrived at the main gate.

Patrolling the community’s perimeter, the security coordinator encountered the terrorists alone. He dismounted under fire and returned fire, but was struck and wounded. At 7:26, a senior Home Front Command officer coming from his home in the kibbutz was shot and injured at the gate, followed a minute later by another resident. The terrorists also hurled a grenade before retreating.

By 7:28, the Hamas squad abandoned its effort to breach Gevim and redirected toward nearby Moshav Yakhini.

As the gate fell quiet, Gevim’s defenders fanned out. By 7:40 a.m., 11 armed members of the standby squad manned five defensive positions and conducted patrols, while those who were unarmed retrieved weapons from the armory.

In Yakhini, the terrorists split into two groups, with one remaining in the moshav and another fleeing in a stolen vehicle to nearby fields. By 8:09 a.m., they established an ambush on Route 34 between Yakhini and Gevim.

At 8:11 a.m., two civilians fleeing the Nova music festival were killed at the ambush site. Maglan commando Sgt. Amit Guetta attempted to engage the terrorists at 8:14, but was mortally wounded. Security forces, including Yamam counter-terror police, the Israel Police Yoav Unit, municipal guards, and armed civilians, gradually converged on the area, killing the Hamas squad by mid-morning.

Inside Gevim, the standby squad maintained positions throughout the day. At 10:30 a.m., Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, arrived at the kibbutz cattle gate with his forces. Standby fighters supplied the soldiers with ammunition and guided them through the community toward Gevim junction, where they exchanged fire with a terrorist vehicle.

At noon, standby squad members rescued 12 civilians who had been sheltering inside the nearby gas station since early morning, which the probe described as “reflecting values of mutual responsibility and solidarity.”

Around 6 p.m., Shaldag commandos arrived at the gas station, dismounting after hearing gunfire. At the same time, a police tactical unit reached the kibbutz gate, where an acting security coordinator — filling in for the injured coordinator — relayed that standby squad members had detected suspicious movement on a nearby hill.

At about 6:10 p.m., the police force split up, with some advancing toward the hill and others circling outside the kibbutz perimeter. Coordinating with Shaldag, they conducted live-fire sweeps of the suspected area.

At 4 p.m. the next day, IDF troops arrived to secure Gevim. Until then, defense had relied almost entirely on the standby squad. Most residents evacuated on their own, with the remainder escorted out by the army that afternoon. Subsequent searches in the area uncovered two foreign workers, one dead and one wounded, and in the following days, additional terrorists and their bodies were found in nearby areas, with several further clashes reported.

The probe concluded that, while the IDF was unable to protect Gevim during the initial assault, the combined actions of the standby squad, the security coordinator, and local residents prevented the terrorists from infiltrating the community, saving many lives.