Israeli pilot saw ‘sea of terrorists’ in early Hamas invasion
Minutes after Hamas terrorists began attacking Israelis one week ago Saturday, a reservist with the Israel Defense Forces was jolted awake by several phone alerts about the massacre unfolding miles away.
“Around 6:30 a.m., I woke up after receiving notifications on my phone from the media about the rockets,” said the 46-year-old pilot — who could only be identified as a lieutenant colonel and his first initial, A, to protect his safety. “I said to myself it was strange that the IDF hadn’t told me yet to scramble. Moments later, they did.”
A was already on an Air Force base because he was on call, and he rushed alongside to head south as one of two helicopter crews immediately dispatched to head south.
In a special interview with Israel Hayom, A, who lives in central Israel and works in high tech when not on call, recounted how he soon realized the magnitude of what was happening.
“On the way, I was told that there was an incident in Zikim and fear of infiltration,” he said. “By then, I already understood that this was not a normal event because there had also been missiles. When I got closer to Ashdod, they told me that there was an incident in Be’eri.
“Ten minutes later, I found myself launching a missile near (Kibbutz) Re’im, directed by another soldier from the division at what he thought was a terrorist,” A said. “I am experienced enough to talk to ground forces, investigate, and get a picture of the situation so as not to harm civilians.”
As he got closer, A said he saw a “sea of terrorists” below, armed with shoulder-fired missiles waiting to attack the first helicopters as they arrived.
“I shot to disrupt because I was worried that it might be a civilian running to the side of the road and hiding. I asked the soldier if he was sure these weren’t civilians, and he told me he wasn’t. In order not to kill civilians who were fleeing, I fired to the side, and I knew that I would understand based on their behavior whether they were terrorists or civilians. When I isolated the people and realized that they were terrorists, I started shooting on purpose, to kill.”
He then saw that the border fence had been breached and “rivers of people were flowing into the country,” he said.
“It seemed unfathomable. First, you think, What is this? Where are they coming from? In such quantities! They came in cars and bulldozers,” A said. “Our weapon is a Hellfire missile. I needed to choose where to hit best. I fired until the armament ran out, pretty quickly, within an hour. We flew to a nearby base to arm ourselves again, and shortly after, I was in the battle zone again. By 7:45, I told myself that we were in a war.”
When asked about criticism that the IDF was late to respond, A said he and other forces “arrived very quickly” at the scene.
“The investigations will show the truth — how fast the response was,” he said. “Obviously, when it comes to such swarms, it is much more complex.”