Amichai Yisrael Witzen

Amichai Yisrael Witzen, z"l, from Kerem Shalom, was part of a 9-member civilian standby unit for cases of exactly the kinds of terrorist infiltrations as happened on October 7th (despite it being the holy day of Simhat Torah). He and another member of the squad fell in battle, defending all the other civilians. 

In the WhatsApp recordings sent by Amichai to his wife during the fighting, he sounds peaceful and calm and emphasized to his wife to make sure that the children feel good and dance because today is Simchat Torah and to bring out all the snacks in the kitchen for them. All while fully controlling both the combat mission and the parental mission.

After several hours of fighting, one of the terrorists surprised and killed Amichai with a shot from behind. At 13:00, IDF reinforcements arrived to assist the standby unit and by the evening hours, the forces were able to gain full control of the settlement.

Amichai and the rest of the standby squad managed to prevent the terrorists from entering the houses of the settlement, and apart from a single house, all the kibbutz houses remained a refuge for families.