Eden Nimri

@NiohBerg   Israeli swimmer Eden Nimri could have also joined the Olympics, but Gazan terrorists murdered her.

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On the morning of October 7, Eden Nimri awoke to a cacophony of air raid sirens and mortar fire. The 22-year-old Israel Defense Forces captain grabbed her rifle and dashed off in her pajamas, along with four fellow female soldiers, to the nearby migunit, a freestanding bomb shelter on the Nahal Oz army base in the South of Israel where they were staying that Shabbat.   

The last photo Nimri took that day—and the last ever—was from inside the bomb shelter, a place that usually provides safety from rockets and mortar fire. On that day, however, it would become a death trap. The photo shows the four other soldiers in position, one of them kneeling with her gun cocked and aimed toward the entrance of the shelter.

What happened after that is a story of tragedy, bravery and one small miracle.

On that day, women in Israel from all walks of life found themselves cast into situations they could never have imagined—both on and off the battlefield. Against the dark events of October 7, many shone as heroes, among them, Eden Nimri.

It was only by chance that Nimri and her squad were at Nahal Oz, an army outpost located a mere quarter mile from the Gaza Strip and adjacent to Kibbutz Nahal Oz. As an officer in the Artillery Corps’ Rochev Shamayim, or Skyriders unit, Nimri’s job was to provide reconnaissance for elite commandos by setting up small drones to observe and photograph the enemy. She was constantly on the go throughout Israel but was told to stay somewhere in the South that weekend. There happened to be room for her and her squad of four at the Nahal Oz base.

Also in the bomb shelter were around 30 other female soldiers who had been stationed near Gaza in their duties as spotters, known as tatzpitaniyot in Hebrew, a word with a feminine conjugation since all spotters in the IDF are women. As they huddled in the shelter, the mortar fire continued almost unabated. Then, a message came in on Nimri’s communication device: “Infiltration! Infiltration! Infiltration!” 

Nimri gestured to her soldiers to load and cock their guns and aim them at the rear entrance of the bomb shelter. She did the same, positioning herself facing the front entrance. The spotters, unarmed, crouched against a wall in terrified silence. That’s when Nimri snapped the photo and sent it via WhatsApp to others in her company to let them know the situation. 

Minutes later, a bearded Hamas terrorist wearing a green bandana burst into the shelter—through Nimri’s side—brandishing a Kalashnikov. She and her soldiers fired at him, killing him instantly.

Then, three hand grenades were thrown into the shelter. There were explosions, smoke, chaos. Nimri’s soldiers, along with six of the spotters, dashed out through the back of the shelter while Nimri single-handedly battled the terrorists who stormed through the front. With her firing, the 10 women were able to escape and ran into two nearby rooms on the base, locking the doors. They hid there for hours as terrorists sang, danced and shouted in rapture right outside their rooms. The terrorists tried to pry open the locked doors several times. They could easily have entered through a broken window if they had noticed it. 

After six and a half hours in hiding, the 10 soldiers were rescued by paratroopers who had arrived at the base.

Nimri, who had never been in a combat situation before, died fighting. Nearly all the other women on the base, including those who remained in the bomb shelter with her, were either killed or kidnapped.

All except for the 10 who snuck out while Nimri alone fired at the terrorists. Many other soldiers who had been stationed at the base were also killed in the attack, as were 14 civilians at nearby Kibbutz Nahal Oz; numerous others were wounded or kidnapped, some of them since released in hostage-prisoner exchanges.

https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2023/12/20/the-female-heroes-on-the-battlefield-and-homefront/