A year and five months after the October 7 massacre, police on Monday night presented findings of their investigation into the fighting to the families of eight officers and one civilian who fell in one of the battles against Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri. While IDF and Shin Bet recently released their internal investigations to the public, police decided not to disclose their findings, citing the investigation as "classified."
Kibbutz Be’eri was one of the main combat zones stormed by hundreds of terrorists during the deadly terror attack. According to the findings presented to the families of the fallen, seven fighters from the Enforcement Coordination Directorate, an officer from the Yoav Unit, and a civilian entered the kibbutz at 2:27 p.m. in two armored vehicles.
According to the police statement, “fighters bravely engaged the terrorists, fought courageously, and acted to save the lives of the kibbutz residents from Hamas murderers who carried out a brutal massacre in the kibbutz. During the fighting, vehicles and the fighters inside were hit by gunfire, grenades and anti-tank missiles.”
In this battle at Be’eri, the following Enforcement Coordination Directorate fighters were killed: Chief Superintendent Vadim Blich, Superintendent Dan Ganot, Sergeant Major Boris Danilov, First Sergeant Eliran Avergil, Sergeant First Class Mulonta Gadif, Sergeant First Class Orel Shalom Oren, and Sergeant First Class Dor Mengedi. Yoav Unit officer Chief Superintendent Avi Amar and civilian Ziv Shufan also fell in the fighting.
The investigation was led by Commander Ronen Hagdosh and presented to the families of the fallen by Operations Division Chief Superintendent David Filo. Iris, the mother of Dor Mengedi, conducted her own independent investigation into the circumstances of the battle in which her son fell.
She expressed disappointment with the police investigation. “It wasn’t easy; I almost got up and left. I was the dominant voice there, and I already knew everything in this investigation. I questioned everyone who was on the ground. They didn’t answer the questions I wanted, and they didn’t talk about what really happened to the fighters inside the kibbutz,” she said.
The bereaved mother added: “I wanted to know exactly what happened after they arrived at Be’eri. Was there a briefing? I left the investigation feeling disappointed. Some officers followed me outside asking me to come back. I didn’t agree with what they said. There is a commander of the Enforcement Coordination Directorate, Commander Eyal Raon — where was he? How did he get promoted?”
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Mengedi continued, “The investigation was formal and very restrained; they didn’t want to stir up trouble. I know the real facts: the commander of the Directorate didn’t come to the scene. Your entire unit is in Be’eri — what are you doing in the command center? I’m not blaming the fighters on the ground; they functioned based on the orders they were given. But where was the commander? Go there, fight with them. I stopped them during the investigation and told them it was all a show.
“They said during the investigation that they didn’t know what was happening until 2:30 p.m. My son’s WhatsApp was filled with messages saying, ‘There are terrorists here,’ and ‘There are hostages there.’ I was furious at those who conducted the investigation. This is a complete failure; forces should have been sent there. The investigator noted that Commander Eyal should have left the command center at some point and arrived on the scene, but stated that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. To me, the police are subpar in this investigation.”
The police said in a statement that the investigation "was conducted thoroughly and professionally to deeply establish the facts and findings of the heroic battle at Kibbutz Be’eri. It addresses all aspects of the battle. As a learning and investigative organization, police are committed to drawing all operational lessons and commemorating the memory of the fallen.
“This is an operational investigation classified by law, but due to its importance and to present the facts to the bereaved families, the police commissioner instructed that the key findings of the investigation be presented directly and personally to the families and to reveal to them the sequence of events in which their loved ones fell.” In total, 31 security personnel, including IDF soldiers and members of the Emergency Response Team, as well as 101 civilians, were killed in the battles at Kibbutz Be’eri. 58 police officers fell in various locations during the October 7 attack.