Survivors of Hamas attacks share experiences
Gunshots and rockets, fleeing from militants, and sheltering in crowded rooms were some of the first-hand experiences shared by Israeli survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks during a recent event at the Dayton Jewish Community Center.
“It was chaos,” said Klil Valiano, who was with his girlfriend and friends at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7.
They began hearing rockets firing at approximately 6:30 a.m., Valiano said at the Jewish Community Center on Tuesday evening. He detailed how they fled in their vehicle and later abandoned it in a traffic jam before they spent more than 11 hours fleeing from the music festival.
Valiano said they ran through fields, hid in bushes and trees when they could and got picked up by other drivers. They eventually made it to a nearby police station in Netivot, a city in southern Israel, where they were able to take shelter.
The Israeli survivors visited the Dayton region to share their stories, saying the events from Oct. 7 are still not over for Israelis as there are hostages who remain captive.
“We have a lot of people in Gaza,” said Gitit Botera, who took shelter in the Kibbutz Sderot on Oct. 7 with her husband and their fouryear-old daughter. They survived a direct hit on their
home and have been living, as many evacuees have, in a hotel since the attacks.
Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war and took another 250 people hostage. Hamas is still believed to be holding about 100 captives, as well as the remains of 30 others, after many of the rest were freed during a ceasefire last year.
“Nothing can justify murdering,” said Eitan Frankl, who hid with his wife in a safe room in their home in the Kibbutz Nirim.
They went from their house to the Kibbutz community hall, where they hid for 20 more hours with 400 other people.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” said Frankl, who described how he collapsed from exhaustion and fear at one point while they were sheltering from militants.
“These were the worst 36 hours of my life,” he said.
Earlier this month, the U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said in a report that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture,” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during the attacks.
“The horrors are indescribable,” Frankl said.
They are continuing to advocate for captives even as they are still dealing with the toll those attacks took on their own health, with
Botera saying she now has post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I miss my home,” said Frankl, who has also been living out of a hotel for the last five months.
Their communities have come together since the attacks, they said. For three to four months, other Israelis met with the survivors daily to provide help and aid, Frankl said. They have also received support from Jewish communities in other countries.
“I’ve never felt that close to the Jewish community over the world, and I’ve never felt that close to Israel,” Frankl said.