Since the creation of their State in 1948, Israelis have been accustomed to conflict, but the massacres and kidnappings of October 7 in towns near the Gaza Strip have had an unprecedented impact. More than a week after the attack, the trauma lingers among survivors.
At 8:25 a.m. on Saturday, October 7, Moshe Rozen, a 72-year-old Argentine-Israeli resident of Kibbutz Nir Itzchak, a farming community about 4 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, began hearing projectiles flying over his village. He and his wife went to take shelter in the armored shelter they have at home, something common in the towns near Gaza. The noise began to be heard closer and closer and soon they realized that someone had broken into the kibbutz.
Suddenly they heard the attackers knocking down the door of their house. They were inside. Together with his wife, they tried to block the door of the shelter, but they also broke it down. Hamas militiamen shot them and took them to the border with Gaza, where they were told that they were kidnapped. Then Moshe decided to bet all or nothing and managed to escape with his wife.
They managed to return to their house, which they found destroyed, and there they waited for hours until an armored ambulance arrived to take them to a regional hospital. The center was completely “crammed with wounded people.” They couldn't treat them, so they had to go to a hospital in Jerusalem, where they are still recovering.
“Beyond the great physical pain, I am very shocked,” commented Moshe. For him, the hardest thing is realizing that things as horrible as massacres happen in real life. These days he and many Israelis have discovered the cruelty and brutality, either firsthand or through the images and videos of Hamas victims, which have been circulating on the internet.
In the eyes of the Israeli population, this war is something unusual. For years people have lived in kibbutzs a few kilometers from Gaza in relative peace. That feeling perhaps came from Israel's effective security system or from the limited Israeli fatalities throughout all the years of conflict. From the beginning of the first intifada in 1987, until September of this year, 87% of the deaths resulting from the clashes were of Palestinian origin, according to the NGO B'Tselem. But this time it has been different, the Israeli population is suffering from the war much more than usual.
The attack on the 7th turned out to be the worst in Israel's history in terms of death toll: 1,300. And for those who lived it, an absolute shock. "This is life's worst nightmare," said Ben Mirvis, a young Israeli from Tel Aviv. While for Sol, a resident of another kibbutz attacked by Hamas and who has not eaten or slept for days, Hamas' violence is "inexplicable." and surpasses the limits of humanity.”
Many Israelis believe it is necessary to stop Hamas. “I feel sorry for the civilian population in Gaza, but we have to defend ourselves because they are killing us,” Ben said. In response to the attacks, the Israeli government has not stopped bombing Gaza, where at least 2,750 people have lost their lives since the start of hostilities. To protect the Israeli population, President Netanyahu promised on Sunday that he would “destroy Hamas.” But to achieve that goal, the Gazan population is paying a high price.
"Peace can be reached if both can live in peace," said Sol. But this new war will only add another layer of pain and resentment to both sides of the conflict, taking them even further away from a long-term solution. Recent Hamas attacks will cause people with a moderate view of the conflict to take more radical positions, Moshe believes. For him, a defender of the coexistence of the Palestinian and Israeli people and an activist in the Peace Now movement, all this is a great disappointment.
