The IDF probe on Hamas’s invasion of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, as opposed to the IDF base, in which 15 civilians and four more security forces were killed and eight were taken hostage, was issued on Tuesday.
Further, the probe said that three Israelis were mistakenly killed by the IDF, one of which the IDF is certain about, and with the other two, the military said there was a high level of likelihood.
According to the probe, Hamas penetrated the kibbutz in around 30 minutes, around 7:00 a.m, not long after other invaders were already infiltrating the nearby IDF base. A number of invaders used motorcycles to arrive at the base more rapidly and maintain their advantage of surprise.
Various members of the volunteer local security team noticed the invaders as they were entering the kibbutz and notified the rest of the team.
Some of Hamas invaders slowed by forces on their way into the kibbutz
Team leader Ilan Fiorentino confronted the invaders and slowed their advance before being killed. Alas, some of the invaders were killed or slowed by IDF Atuda forces on their way into the kibbutz.
Many of the residents credit him for this delay, though, 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 team had anticipated such a large invasion so fast without any warning whatsoever.
Also, when the kibbutz security went out, some of the security team members were left out of the loop in terms of coordination and some 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 additional 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 eventually around 180 invaders for Nahal Oz and the nearby area, as well as the fact that IDF forces in large quantities 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 those Israeli killed were murdered, started around 10:00 a.m.
At 10:30 a.m., Hamas outnumbered the still living Israeli defenders 59 to 8.
At 11:00 a.m., it outnumbered Israeli forces 100 to 8.
By 12:00 noon, Gazan terrorists outnumbered Israeli defenders 150 to 8.
From 10:37 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the invaders murdered six Israeli civilians, and kidnapped seven, streaming much of their crimes live.
At some point, according to the IDF probe, Israeli security forces also mistakenly killed two Israeli civilians. One of these incidents occurred at 3:30 p.m. inside one of the resident’s homes.
The first Maglan forces, a small unit of only five, were sent toward Nahal Oz around 11:00 a.m., but it took time for them to arrive.
When they did arrive, they were ambushed at the entrance to the kibbutz and were unable to provide any assistance inside. Three of them were killed, including the deputy Maglan commander.
A little before 1:00 p.m., around 60-plus additional security forces arrived to assist at Nahal Oz.
Only around 1:15 p.m. did the IDF reinforcements succeed at eliminating the Gazan invaders who had taken over the entrance to the kibbutz, such that they were finally able to enter Nahal Oz itself in larger numbers to assist the civilians inside.
By 1:30 p.m., Israeli forces were up to around 140 and Hamas forces had dropped to around 100.
Then by 2:00 p.m., Israeli defenders were up to around 180 and Gazan terrorists were down to around 40.
At 5:30 p.m., Division 98 Chief Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus arrived and issued a variety of orders, including evacuation of the residents.
Among these reinforcements included the Givati Brigade, and on October 8 there were some new forces from the Golani Brigade, helping Israeli forces reach around 100, after Hamas forces had already dissipated.
One storied moment was when retired major general Noam Tibon, who was already over 60-years-old, arrived from Tel Aviv without having been called up, using his own private vehicle and pistol to join the fighting.
More specifically, he had come to Nahal Oz to rescue his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, and his son’s wife and children, who said they hid in their locked safe room for 10 hours.
There was some additional drama that some residents at first 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, IDF.”
From the evening of October 7 and until the evening of October 9, the Israeli forces gradually and meticulously rooted out and killed disparate and spread out remaining Hamas invaders as well as continued to block additional Hamas invaders from trying to cross into Israel.
Altogether around 80 Gazan invaders were killed.
Among those killed 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 as compared to many other invaded kibbutzim, the command echelons of the IDF were lost when it came to forming a picture of the situation at Nahal Oz and assisting it.
Five of the hostages 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 and their community has called for a state inquiry into the October 7 disaster, including regarding the conduct of the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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