Hamas hijacked WhatsApp group to lure community out of safe rooms

Eli Dudai and Nadav Peretz sent farewell messages to family after neighbors said Hamas was 'killing us'; Photo: Natalia Vasilyeva

Frightened Israelis, locked in their homes when terrorists invaded their border kibbutz, turned to their neighboring WhatsApp group for safety.

A close-knit community shared snippets of information, videos and safety tips. lay low while terrorist militants rampaged through the streets, committing murders and kidnappings.

Soon light appeared. IDF troops were already on their way and it was safe to open their safe rooms, a message in the WhatsApp thread said. It was a ruse.

«Hamas took the phones of some of our people they had captured and started texting the group: 'Open the safe door,'» recalls Nadav Peretz, a 42-year-old nurse who was there at the time. cowered in the safe room for a moment. .

After the report was published, one group of Hamas terrorists took a teenager hostage from his family and used him to break into a neighbor's house, positioning him at the front door.

Dozens are missing, many fear they are dead, some kidnapped to Gaza from a peaceful kibbutz of 400 people known for its dairy farm.

Eli and Nadav were afraid that their dog would bark in the safe room, alerting terrorists to its location. Photo: Natalia Vasilyeva

About 36 hours after the couple was rescued from a safe room in their home, Mr. Peretz was still wearing the same white T-shirt. a shirt with splashes of cow-black and the inscription: “Only Israeli milk for me.”

On Saturday, the kibbutz, located just 600 meters from the Gaza fence, was preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding, and The community was looking forward to the fireworks party.

“I put on this T-shirt, I thought I would sing and dance in it. Instead, I used it to protect our front door handle from attack,” Mr. Perez said.

Mr. Perez and his partner Eli Dudai were awakened by air raid sirens at 6:30 a.m.

Mr Perez and his partner Eli Dudai were awakened by air raid sirens.

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The community was preparing for air attacks, and the couple and their dog Mek hurried to a safe room in the house they were using as storage. Less than an hour later, they heard gunshots.

The attackers were on the lawn near the kitchen windows, and the couple heard the men speaking in Arabic.

They tried to remain calm, hoping that militants will not attack the house. Afraid that the dog's paws would slip off the floorboards, they laid blankets on the floor.

“We thought that if the dog barked, we would be finished,” Mr. Peretz said.

“We would burn our house down.” «

By Saturday evening, Peretz and Dudai were saying goodbye to their parents, and the kibbutz's WhatsApp group was filled with messages: “They are killing us,” “They are burning our house,” “They are trying to break into our safe room.”

G- n Pepper texted his mother «I love you» and asked her to «be happy» and make sure she goes to her cousin's wedding later this month, no matter what.

His mother Sarah, who is not religious, was so desperate that she ignored the air raid sirens in Beersheba and ran to the synagogue below to pray for her son and his partner.

p>Outside, Hamas gunmen broke into people's homes, killing some indoors and kidnapping others.

Mr Peretz and Mr Dudai's 84-year-old neighbor were seen in one of the videos on social media taken away on a motorcycle. on Saturday morning.

Another woman in her 80s was kidnapped from a nearby kibbutz, but she was paraded on a golf cart through the streets of Gaza City.

Only ten hours had passed. Following the attack, soldiers entered Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Saturday and troops evacuated survivors.