Yoseph Haddad with Major General Ramo Alhuzeil
(Video: i24News)
It's October 7, 6:30 a.m. and Sergeant First Class Ramo Alhuzeil was sitting in the Israel Police field post that was erected at the Nova music festival in Kibbutz Re'im when the incoming rocket alarms started to sound. The police officers quickly informed the revelers that the party was over, and that's when the hardest day of Alhuzeil's life began.
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He spoke with Yoseph Haddad from i24NEWS' digital team about the day he found himself in the heart of the battle zone, trying to rescue civilians and almost being hit by anti-tank fire himself.
"At first, we thought the IDF was shooting. Then we realized what was happening," he recalled. At 7 a.m., they decided to turn on their bodycams to capture the events, "in case we die."
"At some point, about 20 people from the party ran toward us and screamed: 'Terrorists are shooting at us! Someone's seriously wounded!' I pulled out my gun, turned and ran, 10 to 12 policemen behind me. My vehicle, which we had just been standing next to, took a direct hit from an RPG," he said.
He relived the dramatic moments. "People took their vehicles and tried to escape, but Hamas had blocked all the intersections and was shooting at people, so they turned around. They took everyone who raised their hands in surrender and put them in the trunk. Anyone who tried to escape or resist was shot."
"I started to evacuate people, and my first goal was to find a car. God helped me, and I found a Nissan Juke with a full tank of gas. I took the maximum amount of people I could fit into it and we drove until we reached a cement barricade with an Israeli policeman. I drove back and forth for three hours."
Remo saved hundreds of people that day. He is proof that there is a partnership between Arabs and Jews. These are police officers who save every citizen, no matter their identity.
Alhuzeil, who is a Bedouin Israeli, concluded: "It's not important how many terrorists I killed. It's important how many policemen we lost, and how many people I was able to save."