JOURNAL: Permanently Scarred by Armed Attacks, A Community and its Inhabitants Face a New Reality

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In the profession of video journalism, there exists an unspoken wish: may the news never touch the boundaries of your personal life. Unfortunately, this silent hope was shattered on October 7th, when violence erupted in close proximity to my hometown.

I am currently residing in Jerusalem where I serve as a videographer for The Major News Network. However, my roots lie in Ofakim, a city situated just a thirty-minute drive from the Gaza border. This city is still home to my mother, in-laws, and siblings. In fact, Ofakim is where I met my spouse.

The community is tightly-knit and historically secure, comprising approximately 13,000 working-class Jews primarily of North African heritage. The familiarity among residents is a defining trait.

On the morning of October 7th, while celebrating the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah with my spouse’s family, hundreds of armed individuals invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The festive atmosphere was jarringly replaced by a sense of impending doom, felt most acutely on what will be remembered as one of Israel’s bleakest days.

We were jolted awake by air-raid sirens at 6:30 a.m., a sound not entirely unfamiliar to Ofakim, a city that has endured rocket attacks for the past two decades. Dismissing initial alarm, we retreated to a fortified room in the house. Although many older homes in Ofakim lack such protective spaces, my in-laws had constructed one five years prior, measuring roughly 3 by 4 meters.

However, as time elapsed, the gravity of the situation began to sink in. Scouring our mobile phones for updates, we came to realize that armed groups had seized frontline agricultural communities near the border, committing acts of violence and kidnapping multiple individuals.

Around midday, I stepped outdoors, only to hear nearby gunfire and immediately retreat back to the safe room. Hours passed within that confined space as we surreptitiously snuck into the kitchen for sustenance and remained abreast of unfolding events through the Israeli media. Political debates ensued among us about governmental failures to protect its citizens.

Risking my safety, I left the safe room to check on my mother and my 15-year-old daughter, both residing dangerously close to areas of active conflict. When I returned, I also could not resist capturing the aftermath of the violence with my camera. The community that I had known was now irrevocably altered, bearing the visible scars of bullet holes and stories of unimaginable loss.

Official military intervention was conspicuously absent for much of that harrowing day, leaving local police and firefighters to contend with the armed attackers who are believed to have claimed at least 50 lives before being neutralized or killed.

In the wake of this horrific event, my sister relocated to the United States with her visiting family, and my adult daughter fled to the remote Israeli city of Eilat. Returning to Jerusalem, I find my home now occupied indefinitely by my mother and in-laws. Since then, my professional responsibilities have involved covering a sorrowful series of funerals, including that of my former colleague Yaniv, who lost his life in the attacks.

I possess no dual citizenship; I am Israeli. And like every other citizen, I am now burdened with the task of reconstructing a life shattered by this unparalleled tragedy, grappling with a national psyche deeply wounded and contemplating how to forge ahead.

Ofakim, the city of my upbringing, has been indelibly altered.

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Contributions to this report were made by Tia Goldenberg, a writer for The Major News Network.

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More about Ofakim attack

• Background on the Gaza-Israel Conflict
• Information on Simchat Torah
• Emergency Preparedness and Public Safety in Israel
• Profile of Ofakim: A Community Under Siege
• Israeli Government’s Response to Armed Attacks