Ofakim, a city of lions

Ofakim.

A quiet and beautiful city just over 20 km from Gaza. It is also the furthest community attacked by Hamas on the dark Saturday of October 7th, where 53 residents were murdered. The people of Ofakim fought the terrorists for hours avoiding a much larger tragedy. 

When I visited Ofakim in March, I was transported back to October 7th. The homes full of bullet holes and stains of blood in the public shelters remained. But despite the tragedy they suffered, the residents of Ofakim were not evacuated as it was considered too far from Gaza. 

As we arrived, dozens of residents came out of their homes with chairs, eager to tell their stories. People who need their story to be heard, who deserve our attention.  

I will never forget a young boy showing me the destruction and blood stains in the yard of his friend’s home where his father was brutally murdered. A boy who should never have witnessed such horrors. A young boy should be playing at the park, not guiding people around the sites of a bloody massacre . 

The people of Ofakim opened their homes to me, welcomed me for a meal at their table, and shared their harrowing experiences with me. The thought of terrorists on every corner with families hiding in their homes, fearing for their lives and not making a sound sends shivers down one’s spine. 

The humble people of Ofakim give me hope—hope for the future of the Jewish nation, for rebuilding from the pain. Their strength and resilience in remaining in the city even after the massacre is another manifestation of the endurance that defines the history of the Jewish people. We choose life.

Ofakim is a city of lions. Let us take the lessons from the people of Ofakim as a model for Israeli society. Together, we are strong. We will rise from the pain and flourish. The people of Israel live, today, tomorrow, and forever.