Rescuers recall day of horror, urging, ‘Value life!’

“No-one could imagine a 7 October. The magnitude of what happened that day was entirely new and unprecedented. We didn’t have the resources. We listened to our Israeli colleagues cry on the phone in response to what they saw.”

These were the words of Daniel Forman, the regional director of ZAKA Southern Africa at the memorial at the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria on Monday, 7 October 2024.

ZAKA is global Jewish volunteer organisation that operates in disaster areas to save those who can be saved and identify and honour the mortal remains of those who can’t. ZAKA recovers human remains at plane crashes, terrorist attacks, and earthquakes, to ensure that the deceased person can receive a Jewish burial.

On 29 October, the ZAKA head office in Israel called on the South African branch for help, resources, and support. In a few hours, eight ZAKA volunteers were on a plane to Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel.

Their first task was to assist with “cleanup” on kibbutzim – to gather body parts, bloodied clothing, anything that was left of the murdered. Forman describes the scene and the smell on Kibbutz Kissufim as “unimaginable”.

“We had to take cover several times due to barrages of rockets. Safe rooms on the kibbutz were designed to safeguard against rockets, but never against invasions. The terrorists were able to breach these defences and throw grenades into these safe rooms, causing utter devastation. We saw the bloodstained drag marks of the kidnapped people.”

They had to sort and clean buildings and personal effects – cell phones, clothing, shoes, handbags – had to be cleaned and tested for DNA. They also found the DNA of some terrorists.

Forman said, “the greatest challenge was to clean up and gather the blood in the plaster and brickwork”.

Over two full days, Forman’s team recovered body parts and blood from the 350 cars destroyed on 7 October that had been gathered together. “It was very draining,” he said.

“I saw horror, death, the smell, the destruction. It was all premeditated. You can never unsee what has been seen,” Forman said “I will truly never forget this. You must all truly value life.”

The Israeli embassy marked one year since thousands of Hamas terrorists rampaged across southern Israel. They killed 1 200 people, destroyed bases and kibbutzim, and dragged 251 hostages back into Gaza. Their crimes plunged the region into a ferocious war that has claimed hundreds of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon.

The embassy hosted hundreds of diplomats, communal leaders, and other dignitaries in a short commemorative ceremony. The lush gardens and bright spring sunshine contrasted with the sadness of this day. Large photographs of the hostages were on display – a handful had a sticker saying “rescued” on them; far more had a sticker saying “murdered”.

Israel’s deputy ambassador to South Africa, Adi Cohen-Hazanov, spoke emotionally of the chaos and bravery of 7 October. She said there were no words to capture the horrors of that day.

“What adjectives can describe the torture, mutilation, and murder, the hunting of young people at a music festival, who were shot, raped, and captured? Does the vocabulary exist to describe the children dragged to terror tunnels? We still don’t know the scope and magnitude of the horrors. It’s a nightmare that didn’t end. One hundred and one men, women, and children are still being held in Gaza in horrendous conditions. Six hostages were recently executed.”

Cohen-Hazanov said more than 9 000 rockets had been fired at Israel from Hezbollah and Hamas over the past year, and people couldn’t return to their homes in the north and south. She also noted that Israeli intelligence had revealed that Hezbollah had planned a 7 October-style attack in the Galilee.

“We all lost someone or something that day – lives, relatives, friends, faith, and belief. The scars run deep, the weight of loss, the faces of the fallen. Grief never fades, the trauma binds us all. We have risen with a remarkable will to survive, to rebuild, and find a way forward. We honour our heroes, and pray for the hostages. We are united and stronger. We hold hope each day that we will thrive and peace will be a reality,” she said.

“Israel is battling on behalf of all civilised nations,” said Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein, and the world should be grateful for its efforts. He said Hamas terrorists were brothers-in-arms with terror groups in Africa like ISIS (Islamic State), Boko Haram, and Al-Shabaab, with the same violent fanatic ideology and the same brutal methodology. These groups are massacring Christians across Africa.

“Israel has been dragged [by South Africa] before the corrupt International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice under the veneer of law and civility – it’s a political war on another front,” Goldstein said.

“Moral clarity and political will are needed in this battle between the forces of good and evil. The best way to honour the hostages, the murdered, and the soldiers would be for Israel’s friends to say, ‘We stand with you, and will be grateful for you to defeat the darkness.’”