The Israel Defense Forces on Monday released its official investigation into the October 7 battle at Kibbutz Sufa, located in the Eshkol Regional Council near the Gaza border. The report also covers clashes at the nearby army base and other points in the area. According to the IDF, around 50 terrorists were en route to the kibbutz—four of whom managed to infiltrate.
The investigation, conducted by Col. Shemer Raviv and approved by former Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, concluded that the army failed in its mission to defend the kibbutz. However, it emphasized that the outnumbered and undertrained emergency response squad prevented a far greater disaster and fought courageously. Later-arriving IDF reinforcements were also credited in the report.
Three people were killed in the kibbutz: two members of the emergency squad, IDF reservists Maj. Ido Hubara, 36; and Maj. Ofir Erez, 57; and Bernard Cohen, 57, who was murdered in his home.
The report includes a detailed timeline of the incursion:
Phase One: 6:29 a.m.–10:30 a.m. – Initial assault on kibbutz and surrounding area
At 6:29 a.m., a tank from the IDF's Sufa Regional Company deployed near the border fence spotted terrorists approaching. By 6:41 a.m., it had opened fire, hitting numerous attackers arriving on motorcycles and pickup trucks, and continued to engage them for three hours. At 6:45 a.m., Elia Natan Lilienthal, the kibbutz's security coordinator, instructed the three other members of the emergency squad to prepare for combat but to remain inside their homes for the time being.
Moments later, terrorists stopped at a junction near the kibbutz and began advancing toward it, as well as the adjacent army base and the nearby Dangur Memorial. Four terrorists reached the kibbutz gate and fatally shot emergency squad member Ofir Erez. The assailants then split into two groups and began a campaign of killing, destruction, and looting inside the kibbutz.
Around 7 a.m., a terrorist assault began at the Sufa army base, located a few hundred meters from the kibbutz. The attackers overran the base while dozens of soldiers were trapped in the dining hall. Nine soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting. Simultaneously, a firefight erupted at the Dangur Memorial near the kibbutz’s western entrance, involving 19 soldiers from a Nahal Brigade reserve unit. Four soldiers, including a company commander and a platoon commander, were killed; six others were wounded. Another 14 soldiers were injured in clashes around the base. On the access road to the base, the deputy commander of the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit—who was also acting as the battalion commander that Saturday—was killed.
At 7:29 a.m., terrorists inside the kibbutz shot and killed Bernard Cohen as he sat in his dining area. At 7:34 a.m., the security coordinator spotted two terrorists near his home and shot them dead. Fifteen minutes later, he killed the remaining two. From 7:50 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the emergency squad organized its defense. According to the IDF, during this time “no murders or kidnappings occurred.”
Phase Two: 10:30 a.m.–11:53 a.m. – Second wave of attack
Around 30 terrorists gathered in orchards north of the kibbutz and began firing at homes. The emergency squad and two armed civilians rushed to the area and returned fire. Ido Hubara, who responded as a civilian, was critically wounded in the firefight and later died of his injuries. He was posthumously recognized as a fallen IDF soldier and a member of the emergency squad. The return fire halted most of the attackers’ advance and killed several of them. Some terrorists managed to enter the kibbutz perimeter but did not reach residential homes, instead firing from concealed positions.
Phase Three: 2:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. – Arrival of reinforcements and clearing of kibbutz
fAt 2:00 p.m., elite units from the IDF’s Yahalom and Eilat Counterterrorism Unit (Lotar) arrived at the gate of Kibbutz Sufa. They entered the kibbutz and began conducting searches. The clearing of nearby Camp Sufa was completed by 6:30 p.m. Under the leadership of the kibbutz emergency response team, residents were evacuated to Eilat on October 8, the following afternoon.
IDF Findings – and the kibbutz's response
The investigation concluded that all forces from the Sufa Company had been focused on battles at the army base and the Dangur Memorial and were not deployed to defend civilian communities. This, the IDF said, stemmed from a significant breakdown in command and control, including the deaths of Southern Brigade Commander Col. Asaf Hamami, Nahal Brigade Commander Col. Yonatan Steinberg, and Nahal Reconnaissance Unit Commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Tzur.
The report also noted the critical role played by the tank that engaged terrorists early in the assault, saying its firepower reduced the scale of the attack. The fighting at the memorial site helped prevent terrorists from reaching the kibbutz.
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The IDF praised the actions of security coordinator Elia Natan Lilienthal, who singlehandedly killed four terrorists and “prevented them from carrying out the massacre and abductions they had planned.” The emergency squad's fierce resistance was also commended—despite being just four members strong out of an authorized 16 and lacking formal training.
As in other internal reviews, the IDF acknowledged it had not been prepared for the scale and surprise of the October 7 onslaught, during which thousands of terrorists infiltrated dozens of locations simultaneously. The investigation, which took about a year, drew on interviews with combat personnel and residents, as well as visual documentation and interrogations of captured terrorists. The IDF noted that inaccuracies are possible and that more details are likely to emerge.
Kibbutz Sufa issued the following statement:
"On October 7, 2023, dozens of rockets were fired at our kibbutz. Dozens of terrorists entered or attempted to enter with the aim of slaughtering our residents. The alertness of our security coordinator, the determination of our emergency response squad, and their effort to engage the enemy and stop a major wave of terrorists at the fence prevented a terrible disaster and saved many lives. That day, we lost three beloved members—Bernard Cohen, Ofir Erez and Ido Hubara, may their memories be a blessing.
"On that horrific day, we lost our sense of safety in our own homes and lost faith in the system that had sworn to protect us. But we also discovered the strength of our community as a whole, and particularly the strength of the emergency squad. Had they not carried out their desperate stand against the terrorists, IDF forces arriving at the kibbutz later that day would have found a bloodbath.
"We hope this investigation is another step toward restoring trust between the community and the army, and we call for serious and wide-ranging lessons to be learned at all levels—alongside practical steps that will allow us to return to our home safely, to rebuild our kibbutz and to restore our people. On October 7, we discovered the strength of our community, and we want to continue building, expanding, and strengthening it.
"We stress that the return of all hostages to Israeli soil—those alive for rehabilitation and those murdered for proper burial—is essential for the recovery of the Sufa community and the State of Israel. We mourn the loss of our three fallen and all who fell in the battles in this region, and we embrace their families in their deep grief."