(Fourth of a series)

TEL AVIV, Israel — The number of casualties in the deadly attack launched by the Hamas terrorists on the morning of 7 October might have been higher if not for the bomb shelters scattered all over southern Israel.

Rita Lifshitz told DAILY TRIBUNE that some of her neighbors in their tiny kibbutz community in Nir Oz sought refuge in the small rectangular boxes at the height of the attack that left a trail of terror with the murder, abduction and torture of around 1,200 civilians.

Due to its soured relations with its neighbors like Lebanon to the north and Palestine to the south and west, Israel is among the top countries of the world with the most number of bomb shelters.

These were built under the country’s civil defense law in 1951 that requires all homes, industrial and residential buildings to have bomb shelters in case of assaults by air.

While public bomb shelters are made of thick, reinforced concrete, well-off citizens have built more sophisticated “safe rooms” with various amenities where their families can shelter in case the military fails to intercept the drones and ballistic missiles launched by the enemy.

Lifshitz, a 60-year-old Swedish immigrant who lost family and friends on 7 October, said village leaders led the women, children and elderly to the bomb shelters in their kibbutz at the height of the attack by Hamas.

“Some of the women, children and elderly hid in the bomb shelters so that nothing would happen to them. These Hamas are not smart, they didn’t know that the bomb shelters had civilians inside,” said Lifshitz, while leading an international media group on a walk through the damage caused by the terrifying attack that happened at the end of a Jewish holiday.

“They came from across that fence — that’s Gaza. Some of them came on foot, others in trucks and parachutes. They burned our houses, raped our women, and murdered even the elderly. Good thing we have these bomb shelters where some civilians hid while the terrorists were here,” she said.

She said the Israelis had been oriented by the military on what to do in case there was an aerial assault.

“The general rule is if there’s an attack, or once you hear the siren, you have only 15 seconds to run to the nearest bomb shelter,” she said. “But if you’re not close to one, you just lay down on the ground with your fingers crossed behind your head.”

Heroic soldier

Although the reinforced structures have been proven to save lives, having the right people leading them inside is a different story.

Neta Zeevy, a member of the Israeli reserve force, narrated the story of an off-duty soldier who didn’t just help civilians get into a bomb shelter during the attack on the Nova Music Festival.

“He protected them by actually tossing the grenades back to the terrorists so the people inside the bomb shelter, I think there were around seven, would be safe,” said Zeevy, 26, referring to Amer Shapiro, who stood at the entrance to a bomb shelter in the Negev Desert during the Hamas raid.

At one point, a gunman shot into the shelter in an attempt to hit whoever was throwing the grenade back. A cellphone picture of Shapiro appeared to show a bullet hole on a wall next to him.

“He did this act of heroism seven times. But the eighth time, he was not lucky. The grenade exploded. He sacrificed his life,” Zeevy said.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, six of the seven people inside the shelter survived, having been hidden from the terrorists’ view by the smoke and the corpses.

But in a video released by Hamas, two bloodied men and a woman were pulled from the shelter and taken captive together with countless Israeli civilians in Gaza.

“That kind of story is what the Israelis need in this time of war,” said Zeevy, who serves in a tank division when he is not busy with his studies at the Wingate Institute.

“We are at war right now and the only way for us to uplift our spirits is to hear that there are people like Amer who are willing to sacrifice their lives to defend our country and people,” he said.

Youth stepping up

Right now, Israel is on the brink of a major war with its neighbors.

The Israeli Defense Forces are at war with the Palestinian-backed Hamas in the south and west and the Lebanon-backed Hezbollah in the north. There is a third enemy, Iran, that is threatening to wage an “obliterating war” if the Israelis go hard against Hezbollah.

With this, the young Israelis are determined to go to war.

Students at the prestigious Israel Technological University said they are ready to fight if Israel’s military campaigns both in the north and the south go bad.

“Being in the military sucks sometimes, but the feeling that you know that you’ve done something great for the whole country is truly rewarding,” said 19-year-old Rachel, a member of the Israeli reserve force.

“Think about it. For 19 years you’ve been in the country, growing up and you got whatever you needed. But when the country needs you, why don’t you give two years, maybe three years of your life, give it back. I think it’s healthy to think that way, give back and make yourself grow,” Rachel said.

Another student, Caroline, agreed.

“My husband has been in the army for maybe 10 years. He went to school from the army, then he went back when this war broke out. He always says that it’s a big deal here. You’re committed to it. If you won’t be committed to it, you won’t be here,” said Caroline, a trained bomber pilot in the reserve force.

“It’s an existential thing in Israel.”