After hiding out for three days, 30 missing people rescued on border with Gaza

Thirty people who had been missing since the heinous attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists on Saturday were found by Israeli forces in Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha on Monday.

Israeli authorities received a report at around 9 p.m. on Monday night and sent IDF teams to the kibbutz to rescue the group of 16 Israelis and 14 individuals from Thailand who had been hiding for three days, ever since the Hamas onslaught began. They were all found alive.

IDF Home Front Command Officer Yossi Graiber said on Tuesday that, in all the tragedy, the rescue represented a “bit of light.

“Amid great darkness, we had a little bit of light last night,” said IDF Home Front Command Officer Yossi Graiber on Tuesday, adding that the rescue of the 30 people brought “enormous excitement” to the joint situation room of the military, police, Shin Bet security and various government ministries.

“This is a moment where you realize the power of our mission,” he said.

Israeli authorities continue to search for missing people in conjunction with Israel Police.

“Just as we succeeded in locating these missing people and others, we will continue to work with our partners 24 hours a day to find other missing people,” said Assistant Commissioner Boaz Blat, who leads the police unit in charge of locating missing people.

Ein HaShlosha, located close to the border with Gaza, is just one of the estimated two dozen communities on the border with Gaza that were attacked by Hamas in what some are calling a modern-day pogrom, with its slaughter of defenseless men, women, children, elderly and even pets.  

The attack on the kibbutz was described by one of the residents.

“Our kibbutz is only two kilometers from Gaza; the gap between the fence of our kibbutz and Gaza is just fields," 58-year-old Itzik Ribak shared. "As soon as they got through the fence, they came into our kibbutz, without much difficulty. They were infiltrating through the fence with motorbikes in the hundreds and just started walking into the kibbutz.”

One of Ribak’s closest friends was killed defending the kibbutz.

“You can handle one or two terrorists, not scores of them. One of my closest friends was one of the people on guard trying to fight them. And then, of course, they were gunned down. That’s how all these places have got taken over, literally taken over by the terrorists. Because once you get rid of the settlers with guns, the place is yours and you are roaming free. They loot whatever they can and kill whoever they can.”

Ribak described the shocking tactics of the terrorists.

“They were burning houses in order to get them to come out of the shelter. That was horrific for people. Hours and hours and it took forever for the Israeli army to get their act together because it was a complete shock in the middle of Sabbath and a big holiday. And because of very little intelligence, a lot of soldiers had gone home for the weekend. The army base near our kibbutz was taken over.”