Saving lives on ‘Death Street,’ how an Israeli kindergarten teacher became a battlefield hero on October 7

SOUTHERN ISRAEL – Tali Hadad is a 49-year-old mom of six and a kindergarten trainer whose days would usually be spent instructing primary studying, math and social expertise to 5-year-olds. She by no means imagined that at some point she can be compelled to make life-or-death choices whereas beneath hearth in the course of a conflict zone. 

However on Oct. 7, 2023, she was thrust into unimaginable circumstances.

As Hamas launched its assault at 6:45 a.m., she awoke to the sound of sirens and gunfire in her hometown of Ofakim, a small, working-class metropolis in southern Israel 15 miles from the border with Gaza. The piercing alarms that crammed the air signaled this was not an atypical rocket assault, to which a lot of the area had, over the course of a few years, turn out to be accustomed.

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Tali Hadad holding her son’s gun subsequent to the automotive she used to evacuate the injured. (Tali Hadad)

Hadad immediately knew her household was in grave hazard.

Her son, Itamar, a soldier in officer coaching, was residence on go away for the weekend. Because the sounds of gunfire grew nearer, he grabbed his rifle, totally conscious that there was preventing simply exterior their door. With out hesitation, he ran towards the terrorists. Hadad, nonetheless in her pajamas, shortly slipped on trainers and chased after him, her instincts as a mom taking up.

“I ran towards the playground,” Hadad instructed Fox Information Digital. “I hid behind a wall and noticed a line of terrorists strolling with rifles, heading within the course the place my son had gone.” Moments later, she heard gunshots. “I knew Itamar was in the course of it. I waited, hoping he would come out, however he didn’t. So, I ran towards him.”

Dodging via alleys whereas gunfire rang out round her, Hadad noticed the devastation unfold. “Folks have been yelling from home windows, begging for assist,” she mentioned. “However there have been no ambulances coming, nobody to avoid wasting them.”

Residents of Ofakim in avenue battles with terrorists who infiltrated the neighborhood, in a photograph obtained by Fox Information.

Then, she noticed Itamar. He had been shot a number of instances – within the abdomen, leg and thigh. Two of his comrades lay useless on the bottom beside him.

“He checked out me and mentioned, ‘Mother, what are you doing right here?’ I instructed him, ‘You’re damage, I’m going to take you to the hospital,’” she recalled.

Israeli troopers take positions within the southern Israeli city of Ofakim on Oct.8, 2023. (AP Picture/Ilan Assayag)

With gunfire nonetheless echoing round her, Hadad sprinted again to her home, jumped into the household automotive and drove straight again to her son. “They put Itamar within the automotive, together with extra of the wounded, and I drove as quick as I may, 120 kilometers per hour, to the Magen David Adom station (Israel’s nationwide emergency medical service) on the entrance to the town,” she mentioned. “I knew if I drove slowly, the terrorists would shoot me.”

After handing Itamar over to the paramedics, she made a fateful resolution. “I instructed him, ‘Mother isn’t coming with you. You’ll go within the ambulance, I’ll be part of you later. I’ve to return and assist the others.’”

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Graphic Picture Warning: Itamar Hadad after he was shot by terrorists. Itamar remains to be present process bodily remedy, however upon restoration he plans to rejoin his military unit. (Tali Hadad)

Hadad returned to the scene of the preventing and made three extra journeys to rescue 13 folks in whole, all whereas beneath fixed hearth. “Folks tried to cease me,” she mentioned. “They instructed me it was too harmful, however I took Itamar’s rifle, and I knew this was one thing I needed to do. I had no alternative however to behave.”

After hours of intense preventing involving cops, forces from the Yamam special-operations unit, armed civilians and off-duty troopers, Israeli forces regained management of the city. A helicopter arrived to evacuate the wounded. Solely then was Hadad capable of step away from her position as a rescuer and examine on her son on the hospital. Itamar had survived, however his street to restoration can be lengthy.

Israeli troopers on the southern Israeli city of Ofakim on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Picture/Ilan Assayag)

“Half of the rehabilitation is bodily, and half is psychological,” Itamar Hadad instructed Fox Information Digital, reflecting on the traumatic occasions of that day, the chums he misplaced within the battle, and people he has misplaced since in Gaza, the place his unit, Sayeret Nahal, has suffered many casualties. Regardless of the ache, his dream stays to return to his unit and proceed preventing.

Residents from Ofakim puzzled if the folks working within the streets have been terrorists or Israeli forces coming to avoid wasting them. A number of the terrorists wore Israeli uniforms in a photograph obtained by Fox Information.  (Picture obtained by Fox Information)

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On Oct. 7, 47 of Ofakim’s 50,000 residents have been murdered, and the road the place Hadad lives grew to become referred to as Rechov Ha’Mavet – “Loss of life Avenue.”

A 12 months after the assault, Ofakim is rebuilding. Loss of life Avenue, as soon as a logo of horror, has been renovated. The town has constructed a memorial, painted murals and planted olive bushes – an indication of life changing the destruction.

Tali, her husband and 6 youngsters, 5 of whom at the moment are on lively responsibility within the IDF. (Tali Hadad)

“We’ve gathered the items, all of the recollections of the victims, and we’re attempting to carry life again to the place that was destroyed,” Hadad mentioned.

Ofakim was not among the many many cities and settlements within the south that have been resettled in different components of Israel. However the psychological scars stay. The ready record for trauma counseling has grown, overwhelming the obtainable therapists. In response, the Israel Psychoanalytic Society and the NGO IsraAid established a multidisciplinary trauma heart, providing free psychological well being help to survivors of the bloodbath.

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Tali Hadad pictured in her home in Ofakim. She, like so many others, grew to become an unlikely hero on Oct. 7. (Amnon Arad)

Hadad, like many others in Ofakim, and in the complete nation, continues to battle with the emotional aftermath. “We’re nonetheless bleeding,” she mentioned. For her, the expertise was life-changing. She hasn’t returned to work because the assault, selecting, as an alternative, to remain residence and take care of Itamar. 5 of her six youngsters are serving within the IDF, both on lively responsibility or within the reserves. In the meanwhile, two of them are preventing in Gaza. Her youngest daughter will enter the military in a month. 

The neighborhood of Ofakim continues to heal, however the recollections of Oct. 7 won’t ever fade. “We bear in mind how our youngsters ran via the streets barefoot, preventing like lions. No politicians come right here anymore. No tour buses arrive. However we bear in mind. We are going to at all times bear in mind,” Hadad mentioned.