‘Wrong place at the wrong time’: Inside the kibbutz next to where 250 festivalgoers were murdered

Published

7 months ago

October 11, 2023

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Shortly before 9pm on Tuesday, a Hamas fighter tried to kill an Israeli soldier with a knife.

The attack took place at Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel, about four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Gaza.

The man was shot dead by another soldier.

What is remarkable is that the would-be assassin had been hiding in the kibbutz since Saturday morning when he and about 50 fighters stormed the community.

The defence forces thought they’d cleared the kibbutz but evidently, they were wrong – another search of the entire complex is under way.

This story, told to me by the head of security at the kibbutz, shows what many have been hearing about for days.

The Hamas fighters came over the border with ease and might not have returned to Gaza.

This is important because as Israel considers a ground offensive in Gaza, the government and the military can hardly expect their soldiers to cross the wire if they think the enemy is still behind them.

Over the past few days, Israel has struggled to convincingly take control of the border line.

Only on Tuesday, I saw defence force soldiers firing machine guns at targets inside Israeli territory, while helicopter gunships attacked Hamas positions just a few kilometres inside the Gaza Strip.

The military has now moved into Kibbutz Re’im.

It is adjacent to where the Supernova music festival took place on Saturday – the scene of the murder of over 250 young men and women.

This small community was attacked by about 50 heavily-armed men intent on killing and kidnapping.

Eilan is the head of security here. He is a veteran border guard volunteer who doesn’t want his last name used.

He, along with other community volunteers, led the fight back against Hamas, and he walked me through the remains of the community scarred by an intense fight.

Standing in front of the rubble of two houses and a bomb shelter, he described what they had to do to stop the gunmen firing at them.

Eilan said the Hamas fighters were in the buildings.

“They came and started shooting from this house, we brought the tank, we launched a missile, it didn’t stop.

“We launched a second one, and it didn’t stop, we launched the third one, and it didn’t stop – it stopped when we came with the tractor and we broke the walls, we destroyed everything, as you can see.”

Eilan said that this was a different type of Hamas tactic, where usually attacks inside Israel are suicide missions. This marked a significant change of strategy.

They intended to go home to Gaza having killed or abducted Israelis.

“This is a nightmare, we never thought this could happen, that they’re coming with so many terrorists,” he told me.

“Now it’s completely different, completely different, they came to murder and to take hostages to the Gaza Strip, and you can see the evil that they took families, they took children.”

Less than a kilometre away from this community, the Supernova music festival was in full flow when the attack on the kibbutz began.

The mass murder of so many young people has sent shockwaves through Israel, but Eilan believes the real targets of the attack were the kibbutzim that border Gaza, and not the party itself.

He thinks it was an opportunistic attack on defenceless youngsters who’d been out all night.

“Not the party, I think it’s not the reason, the party, no, I think it’s by mistake.”

I asked him if he thought they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Yes”, he nodded.

The entire community has now been moved away and Eilan says he is unsure how many will ever come back.

Eilan told me that seven people from Kibbutz Re’im were killed, and one was taken hostage.

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He said people here wanted to live in peace with the Palestinians, but after this attack, once considered impossible, everything has changed.

“Our kibbutz and all this region thought about living together with the Palestinians, with the people. I employed them, I gave them jobs, money, a salary, but now I changed my mind,” he explained.

“I don’t want any peace with them, I don’t want to deal with them at all, and if I need to consider my children or the Palestinian children, I would think about my children – never again.”

World

Robert Fico: Slovakia prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot multiple times

Published

2 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Robert Fico: Slovakia prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot multiple times

Slovakia’s prime minister is fighting for his life and undergoing surgery after being shot multiple times.

Robert Fico was airlifted to hospital and a suspect, reported to be 71 years old, was detained at the scene.

The shooting happened on Wednesday afternoon in Handlova, about 85 miles (136km) from the capital Bratislava, after a meeting at a cultural centre.

Follow live: Slovak prime minister in ‘life-threatening condition’

Slovakia‘s interior minister said there was a “clear political motivation” behind the attack, while local TV said Mr Fico was hit in the stomach.

The 59-year-old was taken to a local hospital and then flown to a larger facility in Banska Bystrica.

“The next few hours will decide,” said a post on Mr Fico’s Facebook page.

The prime minister was still in surgery on Wednesday evening, said the country’s defence minister, who described his condition as “extraordinarily serious”.

Interior minister Matus Sutaj-Estok told reporters outside the hospital that the gunman had fired five shots.

Two witnesses told local news outlet Diary N about the moment the shooting happened.

“I was just going to shake his hand,” said one.

“When the shots rang out, I almost became deaf,” said the other, who did not want to give her name.

She said there were three or four shots and that Mr Fico fell to the floor with blood on his chest and head.

Other witnesses said the gunman used a friendly nickname to call out to the prime minister as he approached a crowd of supporters.

Slovak media said he was a former security guard and an author of poetry collections.

‘A polarising political bruiser’

By Darren McCaffrey, political correspondent

Robert Fico has been in Slovak politics for decades, even before the country of Slovakia existed.

A towering figure, he is a political bruiser who has been polarising at home and throughout Europe.

His election last year seemed almost unimaginable until recently, after Fico was forced to resign following the murder of a famous journalist and allegations of corruption.

It appeared his political career was over.

However, he bounced back on a campaign to end military support for Ukraine.

He is also resistant to sanctions on Russia, a conservative on social issues and he attacks the EU project.

This populist approach has a large constituency with mainly rural, older, conservative voters helping him to a third term.

But not with everyone, his party did receive the largest number of votes, though it only amounted to 23%.

Slovakia, like many of its neighbours, is deeply divided with younger, more metropolitan voters angry with the nationalistic approach to politics.

They tend to be more pro-EU, in favour of Ukrainian support and liberal.

There is also widespread concern about an authoritarian approach to politics, curbing of media freedoms and opposition parties.

The result is a polarised country with a polarising prime minister who has never shown any sign of wanting reconciliation.

Robert Fico on the world stage

Robert Fico’s election victory last autumn meant NATO had another leader – alongside Hungary’s Victor Orban – who is sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

He has previously opposed EU sanctions on Russia – and has been against Ukraine joining the defence treaty.

He believes the US and other nations should use their influence to force Russia and Ukraine to strike a compromise peace deal.

Mr Fico also repeated Mr Putin’s unsupported claim that the Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state from which ethnic Russians in the country need protection.

Critics have also voiced increasing fears Mr Fico would abandon Slovakia’s pro-Western course.

To read more, click here.

World leaders – including Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden – have been quick to condemn the shooting.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called it a “vile attack”, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said it was “shocking”.

“News of the cowardly assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Fico shocks me deeply,” said German leader Olaf Scholz.

“Violence must have no place in European politics.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X: “Shocking news from Slovakia. Robert, my thoughts are with you in this very difficult moment.”

Mr Fico is a three-time premier in Slovakia and a stalwart of the country’s political scene.

However, he is a divisive figure, with many critical of his more sympathetic stance towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and views on LGBTQ rights.

He won elections in September after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message.

President Putin said Mr Fico’s shooting was a “monstrous” crime with “no justification”.

In a Telegram post, he wished him “a speedy and full recovery”, adding: “I know Robert Fico as a courageous and strong-minded man.

“I very much hope that these qualities will help him to survive this difficult situation.”

US President Joe Biden said his thoughts were “with his (Fico’s) family and the people of Slovakia”.

“We condemn this horrific act of violence. Our embassy is in close touch with the government of Slovakia and ready to assist,” said a statement.

World

Who is Slovak populist prime minister Robert Fico?

Published

8 hours ago

May 15, 2024

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Who is Slovak populist prime minister Robert Fico?

Robert Fico is a populist leader who staged a political comeback last year.

The 59-year-old has previously been compared to former US president Donald Trump.

But his election victory last autumn meant NATO also had another leader who was sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Robert Fico in ‘life-threatening condition’ after assassination attempt – follow live updates

Critics have voiced increasing fears Mr Fico would abandon Slovakia’s pro-Western course.

This would echo some of the concerns raised about Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, another NATO member.

Thousands of people have repeatedly held protests across Slovakia against his policies.

Mr Fico and his SMER, or Direction party, secured nearly 23% of the votes at the polls in October.

He is known for foul-mouthed tirades against journalists and has campaigned against immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.

The prime minister has previously opposed EU sanctions on Russia – and has been against Ukraine joining NATO.

He believes the US and other nations should use their influence to force Russia and Ukraine to strike a compromise peace deal.

Mr Fico also repeated Mr Putin’s unsupported claim that the Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state from which ethnic Russians in the country need protection.

The politician founded the SMER party in 1999 and has served as the nation’s prime minister for over 10 years across three different spells.

Born to a working-class family, Mr Fico graduated with a law degree in 1986 and joined the then ruling Communist Party.

After the 1989 fall of communist rule, he worked as a government lawyer, won a seat in parliament under the renamed Communist Party, and represented Slovakia at the European Court For Human Rights.

With a campaign based on overturning austerity reforms, Mr Fico started his first four-year spell as the country’s leader in 2006.

He returned as leader in the parliamentary elections of 2012, but failed in an attempt to win the presidential election of 2014.

In 2016, despite winning the parliamentary polls, Mr Fico’s party was unable to secure a majority and after a multi-party coalition allowed him to remain as leader, he resigned in 2018.

As leader of the largest party following the October 2023 election, Mr Fico formed a coalition with Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas) and the Slovak National Party, and began his fourth term as prime minister.

All three coalition parties are either leftist or nationalist and, having previously expressed anti-American views, he has spoken about what he called Western influence in Ukraine’s war which only led to Slavic nations killing each other.

His popularity among some, however, has been based on promises to protect the living standards of those left behind in a country where conditions for many are only slowly catching up with western Europe and where many hold relatively fond memories of a communist-era past.

Ukraine should make ‘compromise’

Earlier this year, Mr Fico reiterated his controversial belief Ukraine should give up territory to end the war with Russia.

In January, he told Slovak public broadcaster RTVS: “There has to be some kind of compromise.

“What do they expect, that the Russians will leave Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk? That’s unrealistic.”

In the same interview, he added Ukraine’s membership of NATO would “merely be a basis for World War Three” and Ukraine was “not an independent and sovereign country” which instead was under the “influence and control” of the US.

Protests against controversial changes to TV and radio

Two weeks ago, thousands of people demonstrated against his controversial overhaul of Slovakia’s radio and TV services.

Critics said it would result in the government taking full control of the media.

The proposed changes would mean the public broadcaster known as RTVS would cease to exist and be replaced by a new organisation.

“If Fico takes control of RTVS, it would mean a decisive step on the way towards Orban and Putin,” Michal Simecka, of the main opposition party Progressive Slovakia, told thousands of protesters in the capital Bratislava.

In April, Mr Fico refused to back the implementation of the EU’s new migration system in his country.

The bloc’s new pact set out new security and asylum procedures as well as proposed quotas.

He said: “We are saying unequivocally that you cannot order a country that it must accept, in the Slovak case, up to 300 migrants you know nothing about, or pay €20,000 per each.”

World

Robert Fico: Slovakia PM in life-threatening condition after being shot multiple times

Published

11 hours ago

May 15, 2024

admin

Robert Fico: Slovakia PM in life-threatening condition after being shot multiple times

Robert Fico: A divisive figure sympathetic to Putin

Robert Fico is a populist who staged a political comeback last year.

The 59-year-old has previously been compared to former US president Donald Trump.

But his election victory last autumn meant NATO also had its first leader who was sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Critics have voiced increasing fears Mr Fico would abandon Slovakia’s pro-Western course.

This would follow the direction of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban.

Thousands of people have repeatedly held protests across Slovakia against his policies.

Mr Fico and his SMER, or Direction, party secured nearly 23% of the votes at the polls in October.

He is known for foul-mouthed tirades against journalists and has campaigned against immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.

The prime minister has previously opposed EU sanctions on Russia – and has been against Ukraine joining NATO.

He believes the US and other nations should use their influence to force Russia and Ukraine to strike a compromise peace deal.

Mr Fico also repeated Mr Putin’s unsupported claim that the Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state from which ethnic Russians in the country needed protection.

The politician founded the SMER party in 1999 and has served as the nation’s prime minister for over 10 years across three different spells.

With a campaign based on overturning austerity reforms, Mr Fico started his first four-year spell as the country’s leader in 2006.

He returned as leader in the parliamentary elections of 2012, but failed in an attempt to win the presidential election of 2014.

In 2016, despite winning the parliamentary polls, Mr Fico’s party was unable to secure a majority and after a multi-party coalition allowed him to remain as leader, he resigned in 2018.