Civilian Security Team Prevented Hamas Massacre at Kibbutz

A packaging facility on Kibbutz Magen that was destroyed on October 7.

(photo credit: via walla!, YOTAM RONEN)

Members of Kibbutz Magen’s civilian security team prevented a massacre during Hamas’s October 7 attack, while the IDF failed in its mission to protect the community, according to an army inquiry released on Thursday.

The probe, led by Colonel Ziv Beit Or, found that the kibbutz’s 26-member standby squad and volunteer residents successfully repelled waves of Hamas terrorists, forcing their retreat and preventing kidnappings that could have resulted in far greater casualties. The community is five kilometers from the Gaza border.