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How volunteer guards foiled a carefully planned Hamas attack on one kibbutz
[CNN] When Hamas militants broke through the Gaza fence in this month’s unprecedented attack on Israel, the kibbutz of Mefalsim — less than two miles from the border — was on the front lines. Toting AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers, one group of militants headed straight for the community’s gates, while another group moved to destroy its generator, according to security videos and local residents.That precision, local Israeli security personnel say, was no accident: The fighters seemed to have known exactly where they were headed. CNN has reviewed documents that Israeli officials say were Hamas attack plans, which suggest that the group collected remarkably granular detail on its targets. But neither of the attacks went according to plan — thanks in part to a handful of volunteer guards who defended their neighbors in dramatic firefights. Photos of the plan to attack Mefalsim were posted online by an Israeli first responder group, which said it was recovered from the body of a slain Hamas fighter. Two local Israeli security personnel told CNN they independently saw photos of the plan, and it closely matched the Hamas fighters’ tactics during the attack. The color-coded document includes detailed information about the kibbutz’s guards and security. It says that one group of militants would break through the community’s fence, while others were ordered to "capture soldiers and civilians and to keep hostages" for negotiation. Yarden Reskin, a member of Mefalsim’s volunteer security force who spent hours exchanging fire with militants — helping prevent any deaths inside the community — said he was shocked by the level of detail. "They knew everything," Reskin said. "They knew where are the gates, they knew where are the generators, they knew where is the armory, they knew basically how many of us on the security team... they had very, very good intel." Another purported Hamas document laying out plans to attack the nearby kibbutz of Sa’ad, which CNN obtained from a senior Israeli government official, was even more chilling. It listed the attackers’ goal as "inflicting the maximum possible human casualties." Like in Mefalsim, the plans didn’t come to fruition, with a first responder group and a local resident telling CNN that no residents had died inside Sa’ad. Posted by: Besoeker 2023-10-19 |
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