Despite failures in initial response to Hamas terrorists on Oct 7, IDF probe finds ‘determination of police officers, civilians and soldiers stopped the massacre’ in Ofakim

The IDF published its investigation into the Hamas-led massacre at Ofakim on Oct. 7, 2023, after first presenting its findings to the families of the those killed in the attacks. 

The findings demonstrate again how the failure of the military to respond appropriately to the Hamas attacks in the early minutes of the invasion led to a high number of civilian casualties. 

The 15 Hamas fighters who entered Ofakim and carried out the murder of 25 civilians and 8 security officers were part of the Nukhba Force, Hamas’ elite military group. 

The Nukhba fighters infiltrated Israeli territory at around 6:40 a.m. on two pickup trucks. Minutes later, they reached the Urim junction and turned east. By 7:08 a.m., the terrorists entered Ofakim, and began shooting at civilians on Bayit VaGan Street. 

At 7:13 a.m., the terrorists saw an ambulance that had been called to respond to the previous shooting, and opened fire on the ambulance, killing the driver. Later, the terrorists murdered 10 more civilians on HaGoren Street and took control of the south and east of HaGoren and Kramim streets, while continuing to shoot at civilians. 

At 7:15 a.m., a policeman, an armed civilian, and a cadet in the Bahad 1 officer training course joined together to begin engaging the terrorists on Bayit Vagan Street along with several other policemen. The police officer and the civilian were killed in the exchange of fire and the cadet was wounded. 

Shortly after 7:20 a.m., a group of 10 Nukhba terrorists split into two groups, with 5 heading towards Tamar Street and the other 5 entering the home of David and Rachel Edri, leading to a hostage situation. 

Between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m., a force of police and armed civilians on the streets of HaGoren and Kramim attacked a vehicle with three terrorists, killing the terrorists. Two policemen were killed in the fighting with the terrorists. 

While this firefight was going on, a terrorist in the Edri home threw a grenade out of the house, which injured the police commander, who was taken to the hospital. 

Shortly after this, two more terrorists were killed by squads of armed civilians and police. However, a group of three terrorists killed another civilian on HaChitah Street. 

Almost two hours after the terrorists first crossed the border and began heading to Ofakim, the Negev Regional Operations Officer arrives at HaTamar Street, and upon realizing there is a hostage situation, decided to halt the fight against the terrorists in hopes of negotiating for the hostages release. 

At 9:10 a.m., the first company of IDF fighters from Bahad 1 arrived in Ofakim at the industrial zone, far away from the fighting. The soldiers had to walk for almost half an hour to get to the scene of the fighting. 

“By the time they arrived, the battle had effectively ended,” a military source said. “The terrorists were either dead or entrenched. The soldiers were no longer relevant to the fight.” 

Around the same time, after three terrorists broke into a home on HaChitah Street, police were able to rescue the family, preventing them from being killed or taken hostage. 

A standoff developed between the police and the terrorists until the second company of Bahad 1 fighters arrived around 9:45 a.m., at which point the soldiers and the police began to engage the terrorists. The last terrorist on HaChitah Street was killed around an hour later, at 10:45 a.m. 

With the remaining terrorists in Ofakim being located at the Edri residence, the focus of the military and police efforts turned primarily to attempts to negotiate a release of the hostages with the terrorists inside. 

A “passing of the baton” happened at 12:45 PM as fighters from the Yamam counterterrorism unit of the Border Police took over the hostage situation at the Edri house, while police and soldiers began a sweep of the city, looking for other terrorists. 

At 2:30 p.m., two of the five IDF companies that had been assigned to Ofakim left to join the fighting at Kibbutz Kissufim. 

After 14 hours of attempted negotiations and efforts to understand the situation in the Edri house, the Yamam fighters realized that the terrorists had no plans to release the couple. The special operations fighters broke into the home at 2:25 a.m. on Oct. 8, killing four terrorists and rescuing David and Rachel Edri. It was the first hostage rescue from a private home in the unit’s history. 

Shortly after that, another terrorist who was discovered hiding at the scene was killed by police forces. 

In its findings, the IDF found that it had “failed in its mission to defend the city of Ofakim.” 

The investigation also found the lack of clear coordination between police and IDF at the beginning of the fighting, and lack of preparation for such a scenario contributed to the number of deaths. 

It also said that the determination and courage of the police, civilians, and soldiers in Ofakim, and their attempts to engage the terrorists at great personal risk were “the main factors” in preventing a larger massacre. 

The probe found that the fighting to repel and eliminate the terrorists was complicated by the crowded urban space with no clear lines of defense which included multiple arenas of engagement. The presence of many armed civilians made deterring the location of threats harder. 

Military officials said they believe the original Hamas plan for the attack on Ofakim was intended to be much larger. Hamas documents recovered by IDF soldiers show the terror group was planning a larger operation in Ofakim, which was prevented by the decision to send some of the terrorists to the Nova Music Festival in Re’im.

The documents also show that Hamas fighters targeted neighborhoods which lacked safe rooms in the homes, hoping to kill civilians fleeing to the public bomb shelters as a result of the rocket launches from Gaza. 

“This was a battle that could have ended in hundreds of deaths,” a senior IDF official involved in the investigation said. “It was the determination of police officers, civilians and soldiers that stopped the massacre.”