The Iron Lions

Gali Idan, whose daughter Ma'ayan was murdered and Gali’s husband, Tzachi, was kidnapped to Gaza, recalled the moments when the terrorists took over her house.

“It was a red alert (rocket alarm) that woke us up, and Ma'ayan yelled at us. We ran to the safe room (mamad), and a barrage began, which had never been seen before."

In an interview with Lucy Aharish on News 13, she said, "We entered the safe room, hugged, we talked, and tried to calm the children down as they said terrorists knocked on their doors. Despite the fact that the kibbutz security network did not notify us about this, they advised us to lock ourselves in the mamad and be quiet.

It was then that they knocked on the door and said 'open' in Hebrew, Gali said. They sent an Israeli boy from the kibbutz to knock on doors to lure people out by saying he needed help. Tzachi immediately grabbed the door handle with all his strength, then Maayan helped. A shot was fired, we saw a bullet's reflection.

Tzachi shouted, "Who is hurt?". Then he said, "No, it's Ma’ayan.' He tried to revive her, but her injury was fatal. I am only relieved that she did not suffer.

An 18-year-old girl who celebrated her birthday four days earlier was bathed in her own blood.

Gali then said the terrorists took them out of the mamad. "I didn't even notice we were being recorded until the terrorist told me to read, I was operating on auto-pilot" she said.

She later explained how the armed men had recorded the events in the house. “I saw the children and Tzachi who was broken and crushed; he is one of the strongest people I know, nothing can hurt him. He was here, covered in blood.