Jerusalem — Early on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Ohad Ben Ami heard the alarm go off in his community of Kibbutz Be'eri. He and his wife ran into their home's safe room, where they quickly realized that something unusual was happening.

On his phone, Ben Ami could see that alarms were sounding at other, nearby kibbutzim. There were also reports of airborne attacks. He shut the phone off to avoid panicking.

About 15 minutes later, he heard people outside.

"Then I understand that it is very severe, and it's not only missile attack. It's something much more complicated," Ben Ami said.

He started receiving messages from neighbors who told him that attackers had entered their houses. So he crawled from his safe room to try to secure the doors to his home. Then, he was shot.

As he retreat

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