October 7: IDF failed to defend Re'im as 80 terrorists swarmed kibbutz

The bravery of Re'im - and the army's failure – the Israel Defense Forces presented its findings from the investigation into the battle at Kibbutz Re'im and at the Re'im junction to the kibbutz community, bereaved families, families of the abductees, and members of the community's security squad.

The investigation was presented by the former commander of the Southern Command, General Yaron Finkleman. On Thursday, the IDF permitted the investigation to be presented to the general public.

According to the investigation, the IDF failed in its mission to protect the kibbutz. On the other hand, the bravery of the emergency security team, kibbutz residents, IDF soldiers, and Israel Police officers, who acted with courage and cleverness despite difficult circumstances, was emphasized. Their actions were lauded by the probe.

In the brutal attack on the kibbutz and the nearby junction, seven civilians and 15 security personnel were killed. Five civilians from the kibbutz were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, all of them returned as part of the first agreement to return the kidnapped in exchange for Palestinian terrorist prisoners in November 2023. Also, 43 young people who escaped from the Nova party found refuge in the kibbutz – except for one of them, all the others were rescued.

According to the investigation findings, about 80 terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz area, committed massacres, kidnappings, arsons, and looting. Houses suffered heavy damage, and the recovery process is expected to be prolonged.

The investigation was led by Brigadier General Yigal Dadon, Dr. Anat Stern (a reservist researcher from the IDF History Department), and other team members. The investigation lasted about a year and included dozens of interviews with fighters, civilians, kibbutz members, and members of the local security team. The investigators also examined various documents and records – including unit investigations, security footage, call recordings, correspondence, intelligence materials, and more – with the aim of assembling as complete a picture as possible of the sequence of events.

On the evening before the attack, the Golani Infantry Brigade's 51st Battalion was operating in the sector. During the attack, which began at 06:29 am with a massive bombardment from Gaza, there were eight members of the security squad in the kibbutz, out of 10 people in the kibbutz who had weapons. The terrorists broke through the security barrier at dozens of points, moving on vehicles, motorcycles, and on foot, quickly and with coordination. Within minutes, the community turned into a battlefield, with the kibbutz personnel being significantly outnumbered.

The investigation team divided the findings of the battle into two main conflict points: The fight inside Kibbutz Re'im and the battles outside the kibbutz, at Re'im junction between Routes 232 and 234.

Stage One: Terrorists infiltrating the kibbutz and fighting the readiness squad (6:29 - 9:47 am)

Between 6:29 and 7:00 am, sirens blared throughout the kibbutz. The head of the kibbutz's security checked up on the emergency team members and directed them to the assembly point, overlooking the roads leading to the kibbutz.

From 7:00 to 7:30 am, about 35 young people who fled from the Nova music festival held nearby entered the kibbutz. At 7:51 am, 15 terrorists entered the kibbutz by foot through the southern gate, and began to move towards homes in the community. Members of the security squad who identified the terrorists engaged them, killing one. The rest retreated towards the southern gate.

At 8:01 am, about 40 additional terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz through the northern gate on five vehicles. They advanced towards the youth neighborhood of the community, with 60 terrorists having entered the kibbutz at this point. Five residents of the kibbutz were abducted at 8:14 am by the terrorists using a vehicle, and seven more were murdered during the battle. At this point, the security team began to change positions, adjusting to the infiltration of the terrorists, with gunfights breaking out throughout the kibbutz.

At 8:20 am, a cell of nine terrorists attempted to attack the western part of the kibbutz. Two members of the readiness team managed to thwart the attack. Meanwhile, the head of security and another member of the team set up an additional barrier in the north of the kibbutz, eliminating about five terrorists. These actions prevented the terrorists from advancing towards the residential houses in the kibbutz.

Twenty more terrorists entered on foot through a breach near the western gate at 9:00 am, and began to burn houses in the western neighborhood of the kibbutz. At this point, there were about 80 terrorists throughout the kibbutz.

About half an hour later, more security forces on crossed Route 234 with two police cars and an IDF vehicle. Upon their arrival, they began to fight against the terrorists and managed to kill at least six of them. During the battle, three soldiers fell and as well as the commander of the Rahat police station. Six other officers were wounded.

At 10:00 am, the Border Police's elite counterterrorism unit, Yamas, conducted a sweep close to the kibbutz fence towards Re'im Junction, eliminating two additional terrorists. During the advance, the force encountered an ambush, during which two officers from the force were killed and 4 others were wounded.

Phase B: Rescue operations, combat at Re'im Junction, and arrival of IDF forces (10:20 – 11:30 am)

A police force that was on its way to extract a police vehicle at the Re'im junction arrived at 10:20 am near the main entrance of the kibbutz. The police eliminated five terrorists found at the location. Afterwards, the officers continued to rescue citizens sheltered in the eastern shelter of the kibbutz.

At 10:35, an additional security vehicle got bogged down at Re'im junction, opening fire towards additional terrorists who arrived at the area. A bus and two jeeps carrying more terrorists was encountered at 11:00 am on its way to Kibbutz Kisufim, using Route 234. The Border Police officers who were there stopped the force and updated the force commander about the presence of terrorists near the road. The force disembarked from their vehicles and began to clear the road from both sides. During the clearing, the force eliminated three terrorists and arrested another.

The police force turned west on axis 232 and continued with scans, during which it eliminated five terrorists and extracted a civilian from a vehicle that the terrorists had taken to abduct him back to Gaza.

Stage 3: IDF forces join, clearing the kibbutz, restoring operational control (11:26 am - 4:00 pm)

At 11:26, after rescuing the residents from the burnt houses in the western neighborhood, a policeman joined the rest of the emergency response team. Together, they moved towards the foreign workers' residences and the youth neighborhood. The force split, and part of them were ambushed by terrorists at the main gate. During the battle, one of the police officers was wounded and the terrorists retreated towards the youth neighborhood.

Between 11:40 am and 12:15 pm, IDF forces arrived at the kibbutz, including a joint force of Egoz and the multidimensional unit, rescuing 11 young residents who had barricaded themselves in a house in the kibbutz. An additional force from the multidimensional unit rescued 17 young people who had barricaded themselves in another house.

At 12:30 pm, the IDF troops, numbering about 45 soldiers, converged at a point south of the youth neighborhood in the kibbutz. The forces began to clear the houses on by one, while exchanging fire with the terrorists.

Starting at 1:10 pm, the multidimensional unit began maneuvering toward the youth neighborhood to clear it of terrorists. An additional force of officer cadets from the Golani Brigade joined the force. During the onslaught, a citizen was evacuated from one of the houses. At 1:25 pm, while providing cover fire for the flanking force, the commander of the multi-dimensional unit, Colonel Roi Levi, was hit by a bullet and killed. Meanwhile, during the fight against the terrorists in the north of the kibbutz, two soldiers fell and three more were wounded. After the death of the unit commander, an officer from the Sayeret Matkal unit took command of the forces in the kibbutz.

The Segev Shalom police station forces entered the kibbutz at 1:58 am, riding in an armored vehicle, and traveled along the road that encompasses the youth neighborhood from the north. At this time, an RPG missile was fired at them, killing the commander and another officer, and two other officers were wounded.

At 2:29 pm, the commander of the 98th Brigade entered on foot through the southern gate of the kibbutz with force, sweeping the buildings and the southern neighborhood in the kibbutz without incident, and headed towards Be'eri nearby. Other forces continued to sweep the kibbutz. During these sweeps a Sayeret Matkal soldier was killed after a terrorist holed up in one of the homes threw a grenade.

A force from the Kfir Brigade and its Haruv Reconnaissance Battalion, under the command of the brigade commander, entered the kibbutz on foot. The force arrived at the kibbutz's health clinic, where the commander took control of the situation and deployed the forces for additional sweeps.

Stage 4: Final showdown in the youth neighborhood (1:00 pm - 4:00 pm on October 8)

At 4:00 pm, the commanding officer began to deploy troops to engage the terrorists in four houses in the northern part of the youth neighborhood. The forces surrounded the positions and opened fire on the entrenched terrorists. Responsibility for the attack on the houses was shared between the IDF patrol and the Border Police.

The deputy commander of the IDF's commando unit, along with additional fighters, joined the forces already operating in the kibbutz at around 4:00 pm, and took command. Meanwhile, a Border Police force fired and launched grenades at another home in the northern part of the kibbutz, storming it and eliminating five terrorists. The house caught fire in the process.

At 5:25 pm, a paratrooper patrol force that was landed by helicopters near the kibbutz entered on foot through the southern gate and joined the searched.

At 7:00 pm, the soldiers stormed the southern house in the youth neighborhood. During the fight, a soldier and an officer were wounded, with the officer later dying from his wounds.

A tank fired shells at the southern house where terrorists were holed up in the neighborhood at 8:23 pm. Two hours later, a Combat Engineer Corps bulldozer arrived at the location to demolish the house. The terrorists, who guessed the vehicle's intention, fired in its direction, and it retreated. After a fourth shell was fired towards the house, the vehicle continued to demolish it, taking into account that a civilian was in the neighboring house.

At 1:30 am on October 8, three terrorists who barricaded themselves in one of the homes came out. One of them was killed by security forces, while the others were killed later, after they broke into a house where a family was hiding in a secure room. A reserve Paratroopers unit stormed the house and killed the terrorists, with the assistance of the Haruv force.

Stage Four: Defense and evacuation of all kibbutz residents (1:30 am on October 8 - 8:00 pm on October 10th)

On the morning of October 8, at 11:00 am, the evacuation of the kibbutz began. This was entrusted from the Kfir Brigade to the 6261st Battalion, which continued with the sweeps.

On October 10 at 8:00 pm, the last terrorist in the kibbutz was neutralized, after he hid near the kibbutz dining hall with a knife in his hand.

The bravery and failure: Conclusions of the investigation

The IDF failed in its mission to protect Kibbutz Re'im, the investigators found, although the local security team performed with bravery to hold off the terrorists.

In the early hours of the attack, the team stood bravely on their own and succeeded in preventing the enemy from spreading and carrying out a murder spree across the kibbutz. In places where the terrorists encountered the security team's gunfire, the onslaught was thwarted.

The security forces arrived randomly, without direction from officers up the chain of command, and without a systematic division of sectors or suitable means of warfare for the scenario they encountered. However, the forces prevented the enemy from reaching other places in the kibbutz. During the battle, the exemplary courage of senior commanders and soldiers from the multidimensional unit, the IDF commando unit, Masada unit, Israeli police officers, and border guards stood out.

The gunfights around the kibbutz prevented further enemies from reaching it. In addition, clearing the area around the kibbutz allowed additional forces to reach the communities near the Gaza security barrier.

Due to the abundance of forces on the battlefield, a command and control problem arose. The forces operated without communication devices or appropriate operational aids. When senior commanders arrived at the scene, they took command, but since some of them were killed, a lack of order and clarity for the forces regarding the new situation arose, which affected the effectiveness of the forces.

The battle at Kibbutz Re'im stands out as one of the toughest battles on October 7. What prevented more significant damage was the bravery of the civilian security team, residents of the kibbutz, IDF soldiers, and the Israel Police. The investigation team saluted the bravery of the kibbutz residents who fought for their lives for many hours, model civic behavior worthy of recognition and appreciation.