Group huddled in shelter for about six hours during Hamas attack
Shitrit said he knew the area because he had hiked around there before, so he walked with his friends to Kibbutz Re'im, and found several others from the festival who were there.
“We thought it would stop, but the rockets continued to launch towards Israel,” he said. “We never dreamed that there were terrorists at the festival massacring people who just came to dance.”
Shitrit hunkered down in a bomb shelter that had a door with no lock. He and the roughly 20 people with him held the door together with all their might, as terrorists tried to pry it open. At one point, one of them got his gun into the door of the shelter and took a shot, hitting one of the men hiding with Shitrit in the leg.
He acted quickly to stem the man's bleeding with a belt and an iphone, which he used to create a tourniquet.
The group huddled inside the shelter for about six hours, listening to the terrorists arguing with each other, and hearing others shoot and kill people throughout the kibbutz.
At one point, the group had to crack open a window because they were running out of air. Eventually, they were saved by soldiers, but Shitrit stayed with the injured man for hours.
“I went outside during the worst part of the attack,” he said. “I saw grenades being thrown. I saw a few people who were killed, lying on the ground, and I made it to the medic.”
Speaking for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Eta Yudin said it's important for survivors of the attack to tell their tales, because many people are not aware of the magnitude of the attacks.
“This is a story that really has not been heard enough,” Yudin said. “I think people don't really understand what happened on Oct. 7. The world changed in many ways, certainly for the Jewish community on that day. For many, Oct. 7 is still today, and I think part of understanding world events is hearing from people who are impacted by those events. There are still hostages being held, including a four-year-old and a one-year-old, and we can't allow that to (continue).
“My heart breaks for all civilians, Palestinian and Israeli alike,” she added.