Israeli media write about the heroic 25-year-old Inbal Lieberman, who commanded the unit defending Kibbutz Nir Am against terrorists. According to their accounts, the woman herself shot five attackers, and other members of her team eliminated another 20. No inhabitants of their kibbutz were killed in the Hamas attack.
Inbal Lieberman has been the security coordinator at Kibbutz Nir Am since December 2022. Walla News explains that the settlement, located near Sderot and the Gaza Strip, is regularly the target of rocket attacks. According to an Israeli news website, when the 25-year-old heard the sounds of gunshots on Saturday morning, she immediately realized that these sounds were different from those usually associated with rockets and that this time they were related to an attack by armed militants. As Walla News reports, the woman quickly opened a weapons warehouse, distributed them to all 12 members of the defense team and began coordinating the repulse of the attack. She placed her people in “strategic places”. “She prepared ambushes that turned the armed bandits’ plan upside down,” we read in an article by the Israeli portal.
According to this account, Lieberman herself killed five terrorists. The remaining members of her team eliminated a total of 20. The fight lasted over four hours. “The defenders turned Nir Am into a tight fortress, while the surrounding kibbutzim suffered very heavy losses,” Walla News summarizes. The Times of Israel website specifies that no kibbutz residents were killed in the terrorist attack.
Congratulations to Inbal Lieberman from the Mayor of Tel Aviv
Ilit Paz, cultural coordinator at Nir Am, in an interview with local news agency Israel Hayom, emphasized that what the Lieberman team did “was amazing.” – Inbal decided not to wait but to take operational action. Because they did it so quickly, dozens of deaths were prevented, Paz said.
The 25-year-old’s heroic attitude was praised by the mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, in a Facebook post. “Like many others, I also heard about Inbal Lieberman. And today I met her. Inbal is a heroine. No one can be indifferent to her story published everywhere – to her composure, courage, heroism. Thanks to Inbal, dozens of lives were saved from Kibbutz Nir in Nitzel. Today Inbal and her family came to one of the hotels where we host residents of the most affected regions, and this morning I had the privilege to meet her. Today is Inbal’s birthday. I wish her to celebrate it with better news than those from the last days. Inbal, I pay tribute to you! – we read in Huldaia’s entry on Monday.
Hamas attack. Heavy losses in Kibbutzim
According to Israeli media, huge casualties were reported in several other kibbutzim located near the Gaza Strip. In nearby Kfar Aza, which was also attacked by Hamas fighters at dawn on Saturday, the exact number of dead remains unknown and bodies are still being found. On Tuesday, the Times of Israel reported that So far, soldiers have found the bodies of about 40 children among the victims, including very small ones.
According to estimates by the Israeli government, over 1,000 Israeli citizens have been killed so far, including about 170 soldiers. Data from the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health show that at least 900 people have been killed and 4,600 injured in the Palestinian enclave.
Walla News, Israel Hayom, “Times of Israel”