The baby on the windowsill

• Published date: 17 April 2024
• Author: ANDREA SAMUELS
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

With the brit milah [circumcision ceremony] duly completed, Deborah decided it was time to give the family some space and return home to Eilat with her beloved dog, Mickey, who traveled everywhere with her

Like all communities on the Gaza border, however, Kibbutz Nirim came under a sustained murderous attack by the Hamas terrorists on that morning, October 7, leaving 11 dead and five kidnapped. Those who survived spent hours in their safe rooms, hiding from the terrorists who had invaded their homes.

A horrific ordeal on October 7

Deborah and her daughter's family weren't spared this horrific ordeal, which she recounted in detail to The Jerusalem Report.

With only 15 seconds to find shelter when the sirens sounded at 6:30 a.m., she jumped out of bed and ran to the safe room in her shorts and T-shirt to join the others, while her little dog cowered in fear under the couch in the living room.

At first, none of them had any idea about the scale of the attack that was unfolding all around them, although the sheer number of rockets indicated that this was no ordinary attack (residents in the area are used to rockets from Gaza).

While Deborah messaged her friends in Eilat to let them know what was happening, things took a turn for the worst, as the terrorists invaded the kibbutz, and gunfire could be heard outside the safe room window.

An hour into the family's ordeal, the terrorists set fire to their house, before entering it to find them. A struggle ensued as Aimee and Uriel prevented them from entering the safe room by holding the door closed. "They held that door with all their might," Deborah recalled. Eventually, the terrorists, who only managed to crack open the door for a brief moment, gave up and left the family to die in the burning house.

That momentary open space proved almost fatal, as smoke filled the safe room and the temperature rose dramatically, causing a suitcase by the door to melt.

Mickey's agonizing screams could be heard as he perished in the flames on the other side of the door, at which point Deborah's "body gave up… I was out of it for six hours until we were saved," she said. "I don't remember very much; I know what happened, but it's like I wasn't there."

Fortunately, Aimee and Uriel took control of the situation, something which Deborah credits for their survival, along with the fact that 10-day-old Kai was with them.

THE FAMILY'S desperate situation was compounded by the fact that they only had half a cup of water among them as the...