Reinforcements were markedly late during Hamas’s invasion of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, in which 15 civilians and four security forces were killed, and eight were taken hostage, the IDF probe issued on Tuesday found.
The probe said that three Israelis were mistakenly killed by the IDF, one of which the military is certain about, while with the other two, the military said there was a high level of likelihood.
According to the probe, Hamas infiltrated the kibbutz within around 30 minutes, around 7 a.m., not long after other invaders were already infiltrating the nearby military base. Several invaders used motorcycles to reach the base faster and maintain their advantage of surprise.
Members of the volunteer emergency response squad noticed the invaders as they entered the kibbutz and notified the rest of the team.
Some of Hamas invaders slowed by forces on their way into the kibbutz
The man who led the squad, Ilan Fiorentino, confronted the invaders, slowing their advance – before he was killed. Some of the invaders were killed or slowed by IDF Atuda forces on their way into the kibbutz. Many of the residents credit Fiorentino for this delay, as it allowed them time to lock themselves in their safe rooms.
Other security team members started to engage the Hamas invaders using a partially armored vehicle, though not all of the members were able to get to their weapons, some of which were stuck in the kibbutz weapons storage center.
Neither the IDF nor the security squad anticipated such a large invasion so fast – without any warning.
Also, when the kibbutz security comms went out, some of the squad members were left out of the loop in terms of coordination and thought they could not get their weapons out of the storage area.
The kibbutz got a break when there happened to be some border policemen, including snipers, spending the weekend in Nahal Oz, who also had a partially armored vehicle.
Those forces, though small, maneuvered effectively with the security team to snipe at the invaders and keep them off balance. This meant that despite dozens of invaders in the first wave, and later around 180 of them, as well as the fact that significant backup forces did not arrive until much later, Hamas never fully conquered the kibbutz.
Timeline: How Hamas invaded, destroyed Kibbutz Nahal Oz
The second invasion wave, during which most of the killings took place, began at around 10 a.m.
At 10:30 a.m., Hamas outnumbered the still-living Israeli defenders 59 to eight.
At 11 a.m., it outnumbered Israeli forces 100 to eight. By noon, it was 150 to eight.
From 10:37 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the invaders murdered six civilians and kidnapped seven, live-streaming much of their acts.
At some point, according to the probe, Israeli security forces also mistakenly killed two civilians. One of these incidents occurred at 3:30 p.m. inside one of the homes.
The first Maglan force – a small unit of only five – was sent toward Nahal Oz around 11 a.m., but it took time for them to arrive. When they did, they were ambushed at the kibbutz entrance and were unable to provide any assistance inside. Three of them were killed, including the deputy lead combat unit commander.
A little before 1 p.m., a little over 60 security forces arrived to assist. Only at around 1:15 p.m. did the reinforcements succeed at eliminating the invaders who had taken over the entrance, such that they were finally able to enter it in larger numbers to assist the civilians inside.
By 1:30 p.m., Israeli forces were up to around 140, as Hamas terrorists dropped to around 100. By 2 p.m., it was 180 to around 40.
At 5:30 p.m., Division 98 chief Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus arrived and issued a variety of orders, including the evacuation of the residents.
Included in these reinforcements was the Givati Brigade, with more reinforcements on October 8 from the Golani Brigade. This helped Israeli forces reach around 100 after Hamas forces had already dissipated.
One storied moment was when retired Maj.-Gen. Noam Tibon, well over 60, arrived from Tel Aviv without having been called up, using his private vehicle and pistol to join the fighting.
He had come to Nahal Oz to rescue his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, along with his wife and children, who said they hid in their locked safe room for 10 hours.
At first, some of the residents refused to come out, even once the IDF had “liberated” their houses, since the terrorists had tried to fool residents into coming out by saying they were IDF.
From the evening of October 7 until the evening of October 9, Israeli forces gradually and meticulously rooted out and killed the remaining Hamas invaders and continued to block additional invaders from trying to cross in.
Altogether, around 80 Gazan invaders were killed.
Among the slain victims were Israel Hayom photographer Yaniv Zohar, international-level Israeli swimmer Eden Nimri, and a student from Tanzania.
The more effective resistance by the security team and Border Police has been credited with preventing Hamas from an even larger mass murder – such as occurred at Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. However, had IDF reinforcements in significant numbers arrived by 10:30 a.m. – four hours into the invasion – most of those killed and taken hostage could have been saved.
Even compared to other invaded kibbutzim, the command echelons of the military were lost when it came to forming a picture of the situation at Nahal Oz – and assisting.
Five of the hostages taken were released in deals with Hamas, one hostage was killed during the war, and two more are still being held in Gaza.
Nahal Oz residents are still not yet able to return to their community, and they have called for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 disaster, including regarding the conduct of the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.