IDF failed to protect border kibbutz on Oct. 7, probe finds

The Israeli military failed to protect the Kibbutz Erez community near the Gaza Strip during the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks, the Israel Defense Forces concluded in a Tuesday report. The report summarized the results of a detailed probe led by Israeli Lt. Col. (res.) Israel Shitrit, according to The Times of Israel. The report said the kibbutz’s local security team successfully defended the communal village with help from a neighboring kibbutz while IDF forces were elsewhere.

How did events unfold in the kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023? The regional IDF commander and an IDF tank company stopped the first wave of Hamas attackers moving towards the kibbutz early that morning. But the military unit left to defend another community, Kibbutz Nir Am, soon afterward, according to an analysis of the report by The Times of Israel. The kibbutz’s security team had mobilized by that time, though its commander was in Jerusalem. The former security coordinator took command.

Soon after the IDF left, 15-20 terrorists in pickup trucks pulled up to the kibbutz’s back entrance and engaged in fierce fighting with the security team. After about an hour, part of the Erez team was almost out of ammunition and pinned down by terrorists’ fire. They requested help from a neighboring kibbutz, Or Haner, which sent three people to fight, according to The Times of Israel. The combined security team managed to rescue their comrades under fire and fight off the terrorists, who briefly entered the kibbutz after breaching the fence with explosives.

The fighting ended with the Hamas attackers withdrawing after about 3 hours and 30 minutes. IDF paratroopers and other military forces arrived at the kibbutz soon after, according to The Times of Israel. The security team killed two terrorists on the edge of the kibbutz and the IDF killed another six closer to the Gaza border fence, according to the report. One security team member died in the fighting, the report said. Several civilians and members of the defense squad were also injured when a Hamas-launched RPG hit a home in the kibbutz, according to the report, the outlet said.

What else did the probe find? The Erez security team kept most of its weapons in members’ houses rather than in a central armory, enabling a faster response time. The probe also concluded that the IDF didn’t have a clear picture of events in the area until the afternoon of Oct. 7 and was unprepared for a multi-front attack on civilian villages, according to The Times of Israel.

What’s the latest on Israel’s war fronts? The IDF on Tuesday struck Houthi-owned targets in Yemen in the port of Hudaydah, it said. The strikes were a response to Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory, the military said. Yemen responded with projectile fire targeting northern Israel, according to the IDF.

The IDF conducted operations against the Hezbollah terror group in 18 locations in Lebanon last week, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The Israeli military conducted both airstrikes and ground operations against alleged Hezbollah facilities, particularly in the Dahiyeh suburbs of Beirut. The operations were the most extensive since November 2024, the foundation said.

In Gaza, the IDF said on Sunday that it found weapons and ammunition in tunnels beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. Aid distribution resumed on Sunday after a one-day pause, which the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said was due to Hamas threats, the Jewish News Syndicate reported. The IDF also denied accusations from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that its troops recently killed 17 Palestinians near the aid center, according to the news outlet.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on Israel’s detention of Greta Thunberg and her aid boat.