Holit attack
On 7 October 2023, the Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked Holit, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel.
Twelve residents including one member of the security team were killed. Three foreign kibbutz employees, two from Nepal and one from Moldova, were also killed.
A resident, whose parents were killed, and a Thai employee, were injured. They recovered, with the employee subsequently returning to Thailand. Four members of a family were injured when a grenade failed to breach their safe room, but shrapnel entered through the space under the door.
Seven hostages were taken captive. Three were released on the day of the attack just before reaching the Gaza border fence. An additional two were released during the Israeli–Palestinian prisoner exchange. The last two hostages' bodies were recovered on 8 January 2025.
Tanks from the Israel Defence Forces' Paran Brigade, and the Shaldag Unit, only regained control of the kibbutz after midnight, clearing it of militants either by killing or chasing them away.
Background
The kibbutz was established in 1977 in the Sinai and was transferred to the Negev as part of the 1982 Egypt–Israel peace treaty. In it had a population of in 53 families.Attack
At 6:30 on the morning of 7 October, 20 militants from the Al-Qassam Brigades invaded the kibbutz and began a house by house attack on the residents. There was evidence that many residents were still asleep or eating breakfast when the attack began.The Hamas militants went from house to house shooting at the metal shutters of safe rooms to determine from noise from within whether they were occupied. They then attempted to breach occupied safe rooms using grenades and shooting. When they were able to breach the safe rooms they killed the occupants. In several cases they returned to houses and set them alight to force any occupants to exit.
Rotem Mathias described his mother hiding him under a blanket and lying on top of him to protect him as they heard militants outside. He heard the militants break in with grenades and kill his parents After militants broke into her home, Adi Vital-Kaploun was killed in front of her 4-year old and 4.5-month old sons who were taken captive.
Before entering their safe room Anat Dymshits and her father saw neighbors’ houses being lit on fire. Anat managed, together with three other residents, to save one neighbour from her burning house by pulling her out of a window. Anat then returned safely to her house. At the same time, her parents managed to dampen the area so the fires did not spread. Dymshits and her father, Yosef Rozhansky, were hiding in her safe room with her mother, grandmother, her four children and their dog. They describe how militants tried to breach the room by throwing a grenade at the door. Although this was unsuccessful at gaining entry, shrapnel from the grenade went under the door injuring the three elderly adults Rozhansky lost his leg and one of her daughters.
Avital Aladjem was hiding in her house with her neighbour Hayim Katsman. When militants broke into her house and shot them, Katsman protected her with his body. She was unharmed and taken captive with the Vital-Kaploun children.
Yuval Rabivo heard that militants wanted to kill men first so he went and stood outside hoping they would kill him but leave his wife, Ilan, and his children alone. He was not attacked. Husband and wife Nir and Adam and their children survived because Adam was able to hold the door shut against militants trying to gain entry.
Shir Azoulai, is another resident whose safe room was not breached, although her house was ransacked twice. She managed to save a neighbour who had already succumbed to smoke fumes in the neighbour's safe room. Naama and Gideon Kovani sheltering in their safe room heard that their next door neighbour had been killed and her daughter was hiding in a closet. Naama encouraged Gideon to save the child, which he managed to do without incident.
Withawat Kunwong, a Thai employee of the kibbutz reported being attacked in his hiding place by what he described as a Palestinian wearing civilian clothes and wielding a knife. He fought the person but was left for dead with severe throat wounds. Fellow employees found him and looked after him. He credits his survival to the bluntness of the knife which left him with jagged scars. He returned to his wife and children in Thailand once he recovered.
There is no indication of organized defense by the kibbutz. Some residents are noted as having weapons, but only two are reported as actively using these against the militants. Shimon Azoulai, a resident, had a weapon and fought militants "where he could", but he said he did not have much impact. He survived the attack. Avi Korin, the only member of the security team mentioned, did oppose the militants. He was initially thought to have been taken hostage, but was later declared to have died during the attack.
Michael Raitzin, a resident of the kibbutz, and the head of the criminal investigation unit of the police in the largest Bedouin city in Israel, Rahat, which is close to the kibbutz. He was on leave in the day of the attack, but heard from his colleagues at around 7:30 that an incursion had occurred, although at that time he did not realise the scale. Armed with his service pistol, he prepared to go and assist in Rahat. However, when he got to his vehicle he observed 20 heavily armed militants. Realising he could not fight them with his handgun, he fired random shots to distract them, and managed to return to his house via an indirect route. He spent the rest of the day at the window of his house intending to protect his wife and children if necessary. His house was not attacked.
ZAKA volunteers reported that grenades had been thrown into houses, people shot, and vehicles blown up as residents tried to flee. The Paran Brigade and Shaldag Unit, only regained control of the kibbutz after midnight.
Paran Brigade woman tank operators helped clear Kibbutz Holit of dozens of Hamas militants. Their three tanks were ordered to leave their Egyptian border position and they took part in suppressing the militants, killing 50 in 17 hours. Near Holit the tanks ran over two militants, and on arrival they broke down the kibbutz gate. They took fire from two groups of militants who they either killed or chased away, clearing the kibbutz of militants.
Damiel Kukushkin, who had been sheltering in his safe room the whole day heard the tanks arrive at 17:00. Since the IDF cleared houses one at a time, they only released him from his house at 19:30. As a former paramedic, he helped the IDF identify bodies. He reported seeing "mountains" of Hamas militants’ corpses.
Casualties and hostages
Twelve residents of the kibbutz, including a Holocaust survivor, a member of the kibbutz security team and Israelis with dual nationality from the United States, Canada and Argentina were killed. Three foreign workers were killed during the attack. The deceased includes a Moldovan employee who was the carer for the Holocaust survivor. It also includes two unnamed Nepalese workers who were killed, but no further details are available for them.At least eight members of the kibbutz or their visiting families were injured. They all recovered. One Thai worker was injured, but recovered.
Families in the kibbutz
Ridler / Busko
Moshe Ridler and his Moldovan carer, Petro Busko, were killed during the attack. Ridler was born in Romania in 1931, and was sent to a concentration camp in Eastern Europe in 1941, when he was 9. He managed to escape when he was 11 and eventually made his way to Israel. His mother and sister did not survive the Holocaust.Mathias Family
Shachar Mathias, a dual American-Israeli citizen, and her husband Shlomi Mathias were peace activists living in Holit with their 16-year-old son Rotem. Their 19 and 21-year old daughters also lived separately in the Kibbutz. Her father, Ilan Troen, is professor emeritus of Israel Studies at Brandeis University, and at Bar-Ilan University of the Negev. They were talking on the phone on the morning of the attack when she said she heard gunshots, breaking glass and Arabic being spoken, after which the conversation was cut. The next Troen and the family heard was a message from Rotem on the family text group saying: "Mom and Dad are dead. I'm sorry. Please send help." Although he was shot in the stomach help did not arrive for another 13 hours.He said the noise his mother heard were militants breaking into the house. His mother ordered him to lie under some thick blanketing and then lay over him shielding his body with hers. As the militants broke into their safe room Rotem heard two explosions which he thought were grenades. He then heard shots, and his father screaming as he died. He felt his mother's body twitch on top of him and then she was still. Her body protected him from most of the bullets except for one which entered his stomach, but was not fatal, since her body absorbed the bullet's impact.
Through the family text channel various family members, including a doctor and a trauma specialist, coaxed Rotem through his ordeal. They encouraged him, made him slow his breathing and when the militants returned to burn the house, told him not to go outside. They eventually led the IDF rescuers to him. He was taken to hospital, operated on, and eventually recovered from the injury. He asked to keep the bullet in memory of his parents. He is receiving trauma therapy, and said initially wanted to commit suicide, but decided against this because it would not honor his parents' sacrifice for him.
Kaploun-Vital / Katsman / Aladjem
The experiences during the attack of Adi Kaploun-Vital and her two sons, Hayim Katsman and Avinat Aledjem are connected. They were all residents of the kibbutz on the day of the attack, but the three families are not related. Katzman is credited with saving three neighbors. He died using his body to protect Aladjem from militant bullets. Aladjem subsequently saved the two Kaploun-Vital children from being kept hostage which lead to them being reunited with their father. Their mother was killed during the attack.After the attack began Kaploun-Vital hid in her house with her sons. At around 12:30, she messaged her husband, who had stayed overnight at another kibbutz, not to return home, which probably saved his life. Militants broke into her house and killed her. They booby-trapped her body and hid it under a bed, so if anyone pulled the body out it would have exploded. Since it took a while for the IDF to clear houses and disarm traps like these, Kaploun-Vital was initially considered missing rather than killed, until her body was found. The militants took the children hostage. At some point the oldest child was shot in the leg. The baby was later treated for breathing problems.
They next broke into the home of Aladjem, where she was hiding with Katsman. They shot them, killing Katsman, but his body shielded Aladjem from harm. They took her hostage with the Kaploun-Vitil children. She and the children were marched through the kibbutz towards Gaza with one of the militants carrying the older child because of his injury. She reports that they saw scenes of death and destruction, with shots being fired and houses being burnt.
Just before the Gaza border, the older child began screaming that he did not want to go. The militant eventually put the boy down and told them to go. In a video released by Hamas of this moment, Aladjem, who is holding the baby under her dress, is seen walking towards the boy. She bends down and hugs him, and they start walking hand-in-hand in a different direction from which the militants walk. Aladjem describes avoiding other militant groups by hiding behind sand dunes, and eventually meeting IDF soldiers who escorted them back to the kibbutz in time to be evacuated with the other survivors. The boys were later reunited with their father.
There was controversy related to the video. Hamas characterized it as them showing mercy by releasing a mother and her children a couple of days after the attack. It was subsequently confirmed by Aladjem that the video showed her and Kaploun-Vital's two sons, being released on the day of the attack, with Kaploun-Vital already having been killed by this point.