Following a recent announcement that Tal Haimi, a member of the community security team of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was murdered by Hamas, and his body is being held in captivity, his comrades have published footage showing his team’s heroic battle with heavily armed Hamas terrorists on October 7th.
The Nir Yitzhak rapid response (neighborhood watch) team of just seven volunteers - two of them over 60 years old - withstood automatic fire, grenades, and RPGs from an invading Hamas force of nearly 100 terrorists, battling them for over 12 hours.
The footage shows part of that battle that was captured by security cameras at the gate of the kibbutz.
In it, two community security team members can be seen arriving at the gate of the kibbutz. At this point, the security team has been battling with the terrorists for over 90 minutes following the initial attack.
The first contact is a scuffle with a Palestinian Arab looter who runs to the gate. The security team attempts to arrest him, but he ultimately escapes and is seen running out of the frame at the right side.
The larger terrorist force at the gate of the kibbutz identifies the security team members and a firefight ensues. At this point, the security team member is injured and falls to his side, but keeps firing while laying on the ground.
While the security team member tries to hold his position and prevent the terrorists from entering the kibbutz again, what appears to be an RPG explodes next to him.
The terrorists throw a grenade from behind the front gate which explodes near the security team member.
The terrorists then throw another grenade. Another angle shows the moment that the terrorists (hiding behind the truck outside of the gate) lob grenades at the wounded security team member.
Further footage shows the moment the large terrorist force, which convened outside the gates of the Kibbutz, was alerted to the presence of the security team. The terrorists initially run to confront them, but end up retreating behind one of their Toyotas after the security team member opens fire.
The cameras show the moment they resort to throwing the first grenade. Short afterwards, another terrorist, who is in civilian clothing, throws another.
The security team’s efforts are said to have saved Nir Yitzhak from a much greater massacre. Five of the security team’s were killed in action in the effort. One member of the squad, ambulance driver Lior Rudaeff, was taken hostage and is still being held in Gaza.
According to media reports, Hamas terrorists eventually left the area with everyone they managed to kidnap, and after them came Gazan civilians who proceeded to loot the area and burn everything that remained.