Kings Bay Y
Roni’s Story
Early in the morning of October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Netive Ha’ssa’ra, a city located in close proximity to Gaza.
Sixteen innocent residents lost their lives. Terrorists set fire to homes, people, gardens, and greenhouses in the city. The city’s four security staff, who bravely tried to protect its residents, were killed.
As a result, the vast majority of the town’s residents are now homeless and have been forced to look for new accommodations as a result of these attacks.
My family lives there.
My aunt and uncle in one house, my cousin and her family in another, another cousin and his family in another house, and a third cousin in another house with his family.
On that day, they were hiding in the shelters – At first, they thought there were only rockets, but then they realized this was much worse – there were terrorists in their hometown.
They were hiding in the shelter for 12 hours with no food, no water, and no electricity.
One of my cousins stood with his gun at the entrance of the house while his wife and children were hiding in the shelter. He saw that the terrorists were trying to break the gate to their house. They were walking around with RPGs (Rocket-propelled grenades), and they were trying to steal his motorcycle. The terrorists couldn’t manage to take it, and they decided to skip that house. That is a miracle.
One of my family members said: “We were praying for help, for someone to come and save us. We were praying to hear Hebrew, we were praying for the IDF, someone that will stop the shooting – but no one came! We were scared to death. We made a decision: we will save our children. We gave orders to the kids and ran to the car, and we made it. It was the longest ride we’ve ever had, with no army or security. On our way, we saw a lot of dead bodies, and we heard so many alerts.”
Eventually, all of my family members managed to survive. Some of their greenhouses were destroyed, but some were saved, and they managed to save some of their plants to sell in Tel Aviv. At first, they were divided into two hotels, but now they are all together. They can’t go back to their hometown, but they will return there someday and will work on rebuilding it.
My family survived, but some of their friends did not. May they rest in peace.
Roni Nehmad
Israeli fellow & Event Services Coordinator
Report from Netiv HaAsara, Israel, where Hamas paragliders attacked
Yonatan Rom
12.26.1999 – 10.07.2023
He was murdered by Hamas at a party in Be’eri.
He was a good friend to Roni, and always cared about those around him.
May his memory be a blessing.
Shir Georgie
05.16.2001 – 10.07.2023
She was murdered by Hamas at a party in Be’eri.
She was a dear friend to Roni, and loved making those around her happy.
May her memory be a blessing.
Amit Levi
04.10.2001 – 10.07.2023
She was murdered by Hamas at a party in Be’eri.
She was a good friend to Roni and always made people around her smile.
May her memory be a blessing.