British-Israeli man describes terrifying ordeal as Hamas militants stormed home

Published

2 years ago

October 9, 2023

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A British-Israeli citizen and his wife have told of their 12 hour ordeal locked in a bomb-proof safe room as Hamas militants set their house on fire and gunfights erupted around them.

At times, they were just inches from the militants and were forced to stay put as Hamas fighters engaged Israeli Defence Force (IDF) troops for hours with no water and no food, stuck in the pyjamas they were wearing when they woke up.

Ben, who did not wish to give his second name, shared his terrifying ordeal with Sky News from an evacuation point near the Dead Sea.

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Originally from Worcestershire, Ben and his wife have lived in a kibbutz named Be’eri, located around 5km from the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, for the past 26 years.

The 52-year-old moved there after meeting his wife-to-be while visiting his brother, who had travelled to Israel as a volunteer.

Ben woke up to sounds of rockets being fired, something he said was “not unusual”, and was met outside by his neighbours, who – like him – were in their pyjamas.

“We assumed it would be over soon, but it wasn’t,” he said.

He watched the Iron Dome system intercept a number of rockets, before receiving a text message telling all those in the area to lock themselves in their safe rooms.

The safe room, like many in the area, is a small 5x4sqm room with gas and blast-proofing on the door, which cannot be opened from outside when shut.

There is a small window, which is reinforced with blast-proof steel, that can be opened to the outside.

The room also doubles up as a bedroom for his son when he stays over.

He expected to receive an all-clear message within half an hour, but instead began hearing Arabic voices in the distance gradually approaching his house.

‘They were a few centimetres away from me’

Ben estimates 30 Hamas militants were in his kibbutz, and the speed and scale of the attack took the neighbourhood by surprise.

“We were so underprepared for such an unprecedented attack, and we didn’t have water, food, anything [in the safe room]” he said.

Ben and his wife were laying silent on the floor of the room when they heard a commotion outside his house and more shouting – before hearing a “tremendous boom” as his front door was knocked in.

“They were a few centimetres, a few inches away from me as I’m holding the door,” he said.

“I was cold, I was sweating profusely within an instant on such a high level of alert.”

Despite their close proximity, the militants didn’t try to enter the safe room, but Ben heard them smashing the house outside.

‘It was so unbelievably hot’

He presumes the TV and windows were broken, as crashing and banging was heard for some time before the attackers appeared to leave the house.

“Very soon afterwards, we could hear crackling and we could begin to smell smoke,” he said.

Becoming emotional, he said “we understood that our home was on fire”.

Ben and his wife listened as their house fell apart around them, with the roof caving in and more windows shattering from the heat.

The door, which is built to prevent a gas attack, had its seal melted away – allowing thick smoke to enter the safe room.

“It was so hot, it was so unbelievably hot,” Ben said, “I don’t know how we didn’t pass out.”

He described how the pair of them lay on the floor with bedsheets from their son’s bed covering their mouths to block out the smoke.

“We managed to breathe every now and again through a crack in our blinds,” he said.

After hours in what he called “hell”, Ben and his wife heard Israeli forces arrive and engage the Hamas fighters.

Despite the arrival of friendly troops, there would be no respite from the heat and the smoke for Ben and his wife for another six hours, while they listened to gunfire.

“For another six hours, we listened to gunfights all around us,” he said.

“I think there was a gunman on our roof, as the shots sounded so close,”

The pair were trapped, with no choice but to stay put.

Through the crack in the blinds of the safe room, they watched a neighbour’s house get set alight.

“We saw it burst into flames,” Ben said, explaining that the fire quickly spread to other houses in the neighbourhood.

He doesn’t know the fate of many of his neighbours, but he saw a massive explosion emanate from the safe room of another house nearby.

After hours of fighting, Ben said he and his wife took heart after “the shouting turned from Arabic to Hebrew”, and IDF soldiers began going house to house in the neighbourhood evacuating survivors of the attack.

Soldiers were able to pull the pair through the window of the safe room once opened by Ben, as the house on the other side of the door was presumably too unstable to escape through given the fire damage.

They were rushed into the back of a 4×4 and driven away under the cover of darkness, unable to survey the damage to their home or even grab any spare clothes.

‘When on earth are we going to be safe?’

Ben and his wife had entered the safe room at around 7am and emerged more than 12 hours later, sweat-drenched, dehydrated and still in the pyjamas they wore when they entered.

When they were dropped off at an extraction point in a car park, Ben said they were given some food and water.

Becoming emotional again, Ben said a soldier offered to give him a pair of socks, as he noticed he was walking around barefoot on the gravel of the car park.

“It was an act of kindness – I won’t forget it, no matter how small it was.”

But they weren’t out of the woods yet.

Waiting in the car park for over an hour, Ben said a shout rang out that Hamas militants were nearby, which was quickly followed by the sound of gunshots and small puffs of dust popping up on the ground around him.

“I thought, ‘when on earth are we going to be safe?’,” he said.

When the fighting ceased, he and other survivors were loaded onto an open-top truck and taken to a nearby sports stadium, before they were moved on to an area near the Dead Sea and put up in hotels.

When asked what he will do now, Ben said he didn’t know if he could stay in the country after the ordeal, given the presumed damage to his home and the wider kibbutz.

“A big part of me wants to leave Israel, even though we’ve lived here for 26 years.”

“It’s our home,” he said, “and all that’s gone”.

World

Trump accuses Zelenskyy of harming peace talks on Ukraine war and tells him to ‘get it done’

Published

11 hours ago

April 24, 2025

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Trump accuses Zelenskyy of harming peace talks on Ukraine war and tells him to 'get it done'

Donald Trump has claimed a deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine is “very close” as he heaped pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “get it done”.

Hours after US secretary of state Marco Rubio withdrew from high-level talks in London on ending the conflict, the American president appeared to vent frustration about Mr Zelenskyy on his Truth Social platform.

“We are very close to a deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE,” Mr Trump said.

“I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this complete and total MESS, that would have never started if I were president!”

Ukraine war latest: ‘We are very close to deal’, Trump claims

Mr Trump also criticised Mr Zelenskyy for telling the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine would not accept giving up Crimea as part of a peace deal with Russia.

And he accused the Ukrainian president of harming peace negotiations with “inflammatory statements”.

Reports say that the US president’s seven-point peace plan to end the war includes a proposal that America would formally recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea – which was annexed in 2014 and which Ukraine maintains is its territory.

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this war,” Mr Trump added. “He has nothing to boast about!

“The situation for Ukraine is dire – He can have peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.”

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Speaking later at the White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: “I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelenskyy.

“I thought Zelenskyy would be easier to deal with, but so far it’s harder. I think we have a deal with both.”

Asked if he was planning to meet Mr Putin soon in Saudi Arabia, he said “probably not, but I hope to meet with him soon thereafter”.

The peace plan, reported by US media over the weekend, would freeze the frontlines in Ukraine as part of the agreement.

London talks on ending war downgraded

It comes after Mr Rubio withdrew from a planned meeting in London on Wednesday, which the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey did attend.

The downgraded talks were also attended by Keith Kellogg, the US envoy for Ukraine, along with other officials from France, Germany and Ukraine.

Mr Rubio said last week that the US may “walk away” from negotiations due to a lack of progress with Russia and Ukraine – a warning now repeated by vice president JD Vance.

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement that there had been significant progress at the talks on Wednesday, and added: “All parties reiterated their strong support for President Trump’s commitment to stopping the killing and achieving a just and lasting peace.”

‘Emotions have run high’ – Zelenskyy

On Wednesday evening, the Ukrainian president said “emotions have run high today” but stressed all sides “expressed their views and respectfully received each other’s positions” during the London talks.

Mr Zelenskyy said on social media: “The American side shared its vision. Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs.

“And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace.”

He also said, however, that “Ukraine will always act in accordance with its constitution,”.

And he posted a screenshot of the Crimea Declaration – which says the US refuses to recognise Russia’s claim to Crimea – made by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in 2018, during Mr Trump’s first term as president.

It also comes after Ukrainian officials said nine people were killed and almost 50 injured in the city of Marhanets after a Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers on Wednesday morning.

Russia also launched “a massive” drone attack on the central Ukrainian region of Poltava, injuring at least six people, the emergency service said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

World

What it was like seeing the open coffin of Pope Francis

Published

14 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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What it was like seeing the open coffin of Pope Francis

How to describe the moment when you see the open coffin of Pope Francis?

How to sum up an experience that was shared with many, but which felt so intimate? Fortunate, memorable, touching, and emotional. Above all, unique.

Well, let’s start at the beginning.

We, along with other members of the global media, were invited into the basilica by the Vatican in order to see the lines of people filing past the coffin; to bear witness to the emotions, the sounds. To this demonstration of faith.

As we start to walk over, we know we are the lucky ones.

The queue to get into the basilica stretches into the distance – there are people waiting eight hours for the chance to see the coffin.

By contrast, we are ushered in through a side door. We round a corner, walking against a tide of people, until we enter the huge, soaring chamber in which the Pope’s coffin lies in state.

A beam of sunshine is lighting up an imposing statue, created by the genius of Bernini and now looking down upon the Pope.

I can see Francis’s hands crossed on his chest. His coffin is large, resting on the floor, but it is not ostentatious. You can see the red cloth of his vestments.

It is one thing to be told that the Pope has died, but quite another to witness the proof. Perhaps that is why so many are queuing for this moment – to bring closure, as much as to offer thanks.

Setting glistens with gold

The setting is extraordinary.

St Peter’s Basilica is a simply astonishing building that glistens with gold and whose domed ceiling rises to the sky.

Francis wanted to eschew the extravagance of previous papal funerals, but there is no avoiding the splendour of his surroundings.

By his coffin, soaring up, is the huge canopy known as St Peter’s Baldachin, which covers the altar.

Beneath it, so Christians believe, is the tomb of St Peter. This is one of the holiest places in Christianity, and the Pope lies alongside it.

Around his coffin are four soldiers from the Swiss Guard, dressed in their familiar red, blue, and yellow uniforms.

No sense of rush

A rope runs around the coffin, marking off the area. There are a few seats on one side for notable dignitaries to use when paying their respects. On the other side is a space for senior members of the Catholic church to pray and give thanks.

As we watch, there are two cardinals using this space, including the Italian Matteo Zuppi, a contender to be the next pope. I can see his mouth moving in prayer, his head bowed.

The chamber is thronged with people, but there is no sense of rush.

The queue of people runs round the edge of half the room, but it is orderly, shuffling ever forward. And there is such a blend of people – nuns and priests, but also families dressed for a day in the sun, teenagers in football shirts, grandparents in their finery. Some come in black, others in suits, some in scruffy old T-shirts.

I see three nuns come past, followed by a young woman in jeans and a T-shirt. The nuns are smiling; the woman is sobbing. We learn it’s impossible to predict who will be affected most.

You do not get to linger long at the front – maybe a few seconds – but it is an opportunity that divides.

Phones are a constant sight

Some make a cross; some offer a prayer; some take a selfie. Mobile phones are a constant sight. At any given moment, I can see dozens of them held in the air, capturing photos of the scene.

It’s hard to say whether these phones damage the mood, bruising the sombre sense of intimacy, or whether they add to the idea that this is as much about celebrating life as it is about bemoaning death. Maybe both can be true.

It is an emotional experience, whether you have faith or not. What is remarkable here is not the sight of Pope Francis’s coffin, not the hands arranged on his chest, nor the ceremony around St Peter’s.

What is extraordinary – and what will live with me – is that so many people are prepared to queue for hour after hour in the beating sun to quietly offer thanks to a man that hardly any of them had ever met, but many felt they knew.

Like the Queen before, what really matters is not the scene that people will see, but rather the fact that they are so desperate to come.

World

Israeli troops shot at Gaza aid workers from ‘point-blank range’, leaked documents reportedly show

Published

14 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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Israeli troops shot at Gaza aid workers from 'point-blank range', leaked documents reportedly show

New details from the Israeli military’s investigation into the killings of 15 aid workers in Gaza on 23 March directly contradict the IDF’s official narrative.

Among the findings reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the revelation that materials gathered by the IDF show soldiers fired at the aid workers from “point-blank” range during the attack.

The IDF has said there was “no shooting from close distance” during the attack, but Sky News previously revealed that some shots were fired from as close as 12 metres away from one of the medics.

The revelations by Haaretz – contained in IDF documents leaked to the publication – come just days after Sky News released its investigation into the killings, which found major gaps and inconsistencies in the IDF’s version of events.

On Sunday, two days after Sky News’ investigation was published, the IDF put out a summary of the findings from its official investigation into the 23 March killing of 15 aid workers.

The new statement backtracked on several key claims which Sky News had proven false, including that the vehicles lacked necessary travel permissions and that they were crushed accidentally while being removed from the road.

The report by Haaretz now calls into question central aspects of the IDF’s latest official version of events.

The new revelations contradict the IDF’s account

Among the new findings by Haaretz is that the medical rescue convoy was judged to be Hamas based on an interview with one Palestinian medic that was conducted by a soldier who did not speak Arabic.

The IDF has said that it was on the basis of this interview, in which the survivor reportedly falsely confessed to being a Hamas member, that the soldiers were on high alert when a rescue convoy subsequently arrived at the scene.

The Israeli military told Sky News on 22 April that the interview was conducted by an “Arabic-speaking person from the team”.

Haaretz also reports that the rescue convoy was driving “slowly” as it approached the scene, contradicting previous IDF claims that the convoy approached “rapidly”.

This backs up Sky News’ analysis of a video shot from one of the convoy’s ambulances, which shows it was moving at around 25 miles per hour in the moments before it arrived.

IDF investigators ‘not convinced’ by soldier’s testimony

The new documents allegedly show that the IDF investigators were “not convinced” by the deputy commander’s claims that he misidentified the rescue convoy as Hamas.

“A scenario in which Hamas operatives travel in marked rescue vehicles to a location where they know IDF troops are present is one that the army had not encountered during the fighting in Gaza,” Haaretz reports.

“As such, neither the investigation team nor the brigade command accepted the deputy battalion commander’s version.”

The IDF previously told Sky News that the commander said he was unable to see the lights on the fire truck because of his night-vision goggles, and said that investigators found this claim to be “arguable”.

The documents viewed by Haaretz also reportedly show that the IDF found the troops, when charging towards the convoy, moved in an undisciplined fashion.

This contradicts previous statements by the IDF that the troops moved in a standard military formation for addressing hostile threats.

Haaretz also reports that the soldiers “kept shooting even after it was clear that no return fire was coming from the other side – and despite the cries of the aid workers who tried to identify themselves”.

Burying the vehicles

Among the other revelations in the Haaretz report is that soldiers were ordered to crush the medics’ vehicles by their brigade commander.

The IDF had previously claimed that the vehicles were crushed by accident while being removed from the road, a claim that Sky News previously proved to be false.

In its statement on Sunday, the IDF admitted that there was a “decision” to crush the vehicles, but did not explain the reasons behind this decision.

“Why did they have to squish them, we don’t know,” a spokesperson told Sky News.

Haaretz reports that the vehicles were crushed to prevent attention being drawn to the IDF’s presence in the area, in anticipation of a planned ambush.

When contacted for comment, the IDF did not address any of the information contained in the new Haaretz report or Sky News’ specific questions.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.