A 25-year-old Israeli woman is being hailed a hero after saving a group of residents from advancing Hamas gunmen at the Nir Am Kibbutz (community) a mile from Gaza. According to the New York Post, Inbal Lieberman, the security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am since December 2022, led the defence on Saturday morning which saw the entire Kibbutz saved. She slaughtered five Hamas operatives herself, while other soldiers killed more than two dozen others in just a four-hour period.
As per the outlet, Ms Lieberman heard explosions early Saturday that were different to the usual rocket attacks. She raced to open the town's armoury, distributed guns to the 12-member security team and coordinated a lethal response. She then placed the kibbutz's standby security team in strategic defensive positions in a bid to ambush any approaching member of Hamas.
For nearly four hours, a fierce gun battle erupted until Israeli security forces arrived at the scene. Citing local media outlet, the New York Post reported that the 25-year-old managed to kill five Hamas operatives by herself, while the other members of her security team gunned down 20 more over four hours.
Ilit Paz, Nir Am's cultural co-ordinator, told local news outlet Israel Hayom, "It was amazing. My husband was part of the standby unit that worked to prevent more casualties. They heard the shots and made contact on their own with other members of the standby unit and with Inbar - and they understood that they were told to be on standby".
"Inbal made a decision not to wait and be jumped operationally. In fact, the fact that they did it early prevented dozens of casualties," Ms Paz added.
A social media post also lavished praise on the heroic woman. "When it's all over, this woman will receive the Israel Prize. The story of her heroism is a story that will go down in Israeli lore for generations. Inbal is the reason there is one kibbutz in the entire surrounding area that remains unharmed - Nir Am," a post said, as per the Post.
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Israeli civilians were caught unaware on Saturday morning after Hamas operatives broke through the border and launched rockets from Gaza. The ongoing war has claimed around 2,000 lives on both sides and the conflict is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip.
In a televised address late on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to "eliminate terrorists" still present in Israel. "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations," he said. Moreover, in recent days Israel has also announced a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.
