The IDF on Tuesday released an additional investigation on the October 7 massacre, focusing on the battle at a Research and Development base located between the kibbutzim of Magen and Nir Yitzhak in the Eshkol Regional Council.
The probe found that approximately 35 Hamas terrorists pinned down the camp’s outnumbered forces, achieving “operational control” for several hours, effectively capturing the site temporarily. Four IDF soldiers were killed, and only 10 of the 35 attackers were neutralized.
According to the IDF’s timeline of the battle, the terrorists first infiltrated the base around 6:29 a.m., with fighting in the dining hall and a bomb shelter continuing until 9:00 a.m. The camp housed 33 armed soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion. As sirens sounded, most troops and platoon commanders entered protected spaces, primarily the dining hall.
Two drones exploded in the camp, and at 6:31 a.m., lookouts reported over 100 terrorists breaching 10 points in the company’s sector. By 6:47 a.m., dozens of terrorists entered through the main gate and other entrances. Within 15 minutes, they targeted the dining hall with anti-tank missiles, rifles, machine guns, grenades and explosives, while combat erupted at the command post and a shelter.
The second phase, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:51 p.m., saw reinforcements arrive, terrorists withdraw and the wounded evacuated. Troops reached the camp without encountering any enemies, searched the barracks and rescued two soldiers from a northern shelter, who then joined the sweep.
Two soldiers in another shelter, where terrorists attempted to blast the door, were extracted that evening after the door was breached. Retreating terrorists set ambushes on access routes, but additional forces arrived via nearby orchards.
From 1:51 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., four critically wounded soldiers were evacuated on stretchers to a helicopter landing outside the camp, led by a tactical command college trainee officer and a medical team. However, two were injured by gunfire during the effort. At 2:03 p.m., a unit killed three terrorists and another overcame four more. Helicopters later landed in the camp to evacuate additional wounded.
Captain Shilo Rauchberger and another platoon commander in the dining hall directed soldiers to guard the front and rear entrances, preventing terrorists from entering and averting a massacre, the report read. A three-hour battle ensued, in which 17 soldiers were wounded; the number of terrorist casualties is unknown.
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At 7:30 a.m., the platoon commander and another soldier thwarted an attempt by terrorists to breach through the dining hall kitchen, trying to flank the attackers, but a shoulder-fired missile wounded the commander.
At the front entrance, Sergeant Amichay Rubin, who died three days later in the hospital from injuries sustained in the battle, and Rauchberger, also killed, physically blocked the entry. Staff Sergeant Shlomo Reshetnikov, who made aliyah and enlisted in the IDF, was killed by terrorist fire in the dining hall.
At 8:15 a.m., terrorists placed an explosive on a shelter door, killing Staff Sergeant Dvir Haim Rossler, who held the door handle to block entry. The blast damaged the lock, deterring further attempts, saving two soldiers inside thanks to Rossler’s actions.
The IDF report noted that until at least 10:00 a.m., terrorists pinned down the company, maintaining operational control for hours. After lookout reports of breaches, camp soldiers did not deploy to protect nearby communities.
The absence of prior warning left the camp unprepared, with forces failing to follow operational protocols and no system in place to repel the attack. During the rocket sirens, gate guards abandoned posts to join others in shelters. The IDF praised the soldiers’ fierce resistance and the reinforcements’ evacuation efforts.
Like other inquiries, the report highlighted the military’s unpreparedness for thousands of Hamas terrorists infiltrating dozens of sites simultaneously. The nine-month investigation drew on soldier interviews, videos, recordings and radio transcripts, though the IDF cautions that future findings may reveal inaccuracies.