Seventeen civilians were murdered on the beach by terrorists infiltrating from the sea.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
An IDF report issued Sunday acknowledged severe failures that led to 17 Israeli civilians being murdered at the Zikim beach at the start of the Hamas-led invasion on October 7, 2023.
A unit of seven Golani Brigade soldiers went to the beach to carry out a well-practiced maneuver in case of naval infiltration only 12 minutes after the massive launch of rockets over the Gaza border signaled the beginning of the invasion.
The soldier who was supposed to receive radio calls about what was happening in the field once the aerial barrage began and pass on reports about numerous infiltrations to the battalion and between the various forces was not in the company headquarters to be able send out squads immediately because he had gone to protect himself in a bomb shelter.
In this particular area of the invasion, five Hamas commandos had landed with a speedboat and had begun shooting at the early morning beachgoers, yet the troops, who were only about 100 meters away, retreated instead of engaging the inferior force.
During the investigation, the soldiers denied having fled in fear.
They said they had left to seek higher ground, because their initial position did not allow them a clear line of sight to the terrorists.
They also could not communicate with the naval forces that were firing at what turned out to be several groups of terrorists who had landed in other speedboats in the area, as the squad commander’s radio had broken.
Thus they might have felt in danger of friendly fire, considering that a shell did land relatively close to them, and could not ask for help or receive a fuller picture of the situation.
In the event, they never actually fired at the terrorists.
Their failure to act allowed the commandos to first murder three on the beach and 14 people who had tried to hide in a nearby bathroom and small bomb shelter, and then attempt to overrun the nearby Kibbutz Zikim.
The report stated unequivocally that the IDF expects its soldiers to protect civilians at all costs and they should have striven to make contact with the enemy.
“The fighters did not act with the ferocity expected of them,” the report said, defining their retreat as a “tremendous moral and professional failure.”
None in the unit were punished for their actions.
One was subsequently wounded in other action and another collapsed mentally and the two were discharged on medical grounds, while the others simply completed their service and left the army before the report was issued.
The report also noted with censure that seven victims’ bodies lay forgotten in a bomb shelter for a week before being brought to burial.
On the bright side, a naval observer alerted Kibbutz Zikim’s emergency squad 23 minutes ahead of time of the possibility of an attack, allowing them enough time to gather weapons and take up proper combat positions.
Their heroic actions in defending the kibbutz successfully thwarted a Hamas takeover and not a single member was kidnapped or killed.
The only casualty was a Shabak man who had been passing by on the road near the kibbutz and was killed while exchanging fire with the terrorists.
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