On 7 October 2023, a sudden assault was launched on IsraelbyHamas militants originating from the Gaza Strip. They targeted Kissufimkibbutz located in the Southern District of Israel. As a result of this violent attack, at least four kibbutz security team members, four other residents, six Thai laborers and eight Israeli soldiers were killed, while at least four individuals were additionally abducted and taken to Gaza.[1]
Background
Kissifum is a kibbutz small farming collective with 300 residents.[2] it is located closer to the Kissufim crossing into the Gaza Strip, which was the main route for traffic to the Israeli settlement bloc in the strip prior to Israel's withdrawal from the territory in 2005.
Preceding events
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli targets and sent hundreds of militants to infiltrate Israeli military facilities and communities, where they clashed with security forces.[2]
On 7 October 2023, at least 70 Hamas fighters entered Kibbutz Kissufim. Another Palestinian militant group, the MaoistDFLP, also declared that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) were fighting the IDF in Kissufim.[3] They carried out a massacre in the kibbutz and killed at least eight of its members, as well as six Thai workers.[1] Four kibbutz members were kidnapped, and the kibbutz buildings suffered heavy damage. The kibbutz security team fought back during the attack and four of its members were killed, including its leader. IDF troops eventually arrived and cleared the kibbutz.[4][5]
A platoon from the 51st Golani Battalion arrived at the kibbutz in order to repel the militants, and became engaged in a battle that lasted several hours. In the late afternoon hours, the soldiers began evacuating kibbutz residents who were trapped in their homes. Eight soldiers from the platoon were killed in the battle.[6]
The Israeli government declared the border towns in the Gaza envelope as active military zones after the 7 October attack, closing off Kissifum and evacuating its remaining residents.[2] On Saturday night, the kibbutz residents were evacuated to a hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea.[2][7]
On 10 October, Reuven Heinik from Ashkelon, the kibbutz dairy farm manager, asked the army for permission to enter the kibbutz dairy farm in order to feed the cows who had not received food and water for about 60 hours. While at the milking parlor, a militant who was hiding at the location killed him.[8][9] A notable victim, Gina Semiatich, was a 90-year-old woman. Reportedly she was forcibly taken and killed by the militants, by being shot in the head in her living room.[1]
