Heroes of Israel: Armed members of several kibbutzim managed to fight off terrorists

Inbal Lieberman, head of security at Nir-Am, anticipated that the attackers were coming and together with 12 neighbors, managed to kill 25 of the 30 terrorists who tried to enter the complex.

The terrorist attack carried out by Hamas against innocent and unprotected civilians struck a kibbutzim that happened to have armed guards as well as several residents with weapons. They joined together to prepare for the imminent attack. One young woman's actions stand out. Inbal Lieberman, a young security coordinator at Kibbutz Nir-Am managed to fight off 25 assailants and save the lives of her neighbors. She has been recognized as a hero by the State of Israel.

Kibbutz members organized an ambush

Lieberman made headlines for becoming the youngest kibbutz security chief in history. The young woman, 26 years old, realized that the explosions sounded different than terrorist raids. She rushed to find out whether her area was in danger of becoming victim to a particularly large-scale attack and learned that some 1,000 terrorists had already entered Israel, killing hundreds of innocent civilians.

Without wasting a second, the young woman distributed the available weapons among 12 members of the complex and led the rest of the neighbors, especially the most vulnerable, to hide in safe places. She then spread her team out in strategic places of the Kibbutz and they prepared for an attack against an enemy that outnumbered them, preparing coordinated ambushes to take down the assailants.

Finally, 30 armed terrorists appeared at the complex but she and her team managed to kill 25 of them. The remaining five managed to flee. Lieberman killed five assailants by herself. 

People who died fighting terrorists

In addition to Nir-Am, a handful of armed defenders of Ein Habsor, a moshav located near the Gaza Strip, managed to fight off a larger number of better-armed terrorists. One of the residents, Noam Gotliv, told the Times of Israel that "what happened to us was partly warning, partly miracle."

On other occasions, some armed residents tried to respond to the surprise attacks, and their actions, although in many cases cost them their lives, saved the lives of others. This is the case of Aviv Baram. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Baram "left his house in Kfar Gaza, grabbed a gun, killed a terrorist, ran to treat a wounded man under fire and was hit and killed there. Israel's hero."

Up to four trips back and forth from the festival to search and rescue survivors

He also gave a special mention to Yair Golan, a former Israeli army officer and former politician who did not hesitate to put on his military uniform and go search for survivors from the festival where Hamas terrorists killed around 260 people and raped dozens of women. Golan made four trips between the Negev desert, where the event was held, and the checkpoints to treat the wounded.