Roni Kisin, a member of the emergency medical team from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, now temporarily living in Ashkelon after being evacuated, spoke to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News following the release of the military’s investigation into the attack on her community.

“The report doesn’t take me back to that day — because we’re still living it,” she said. “Until I can return home, I’m still stuck in October 7th. The investigation didn’t reveal much to us. There was a group of soldiers, but they simply couldn’t cope with the overwhelming number of terrorists.”

Kisin shared her personal experience from that harrowing day. “Luckily, the part of the kibbutz where my house is located wasn’t directly reached by the terrorists,” she recalled. “But the civilian emergency squad was always close by. Around 8:30 a.m., my husband went to bring food to our daughter, who was alone with two infants — the youngest only six weeks old. On his way back, he met members of the alert squad who asked for water. We brought them water and a cake for energy.”

Throughout the day, she said, no official communication warned residents about the terrorists inside the kibbutz. “We had no idea how bad it really was. It wasn’t until around 10:45 a.m., when my husband — a former security officer — received a call saying there were seriously wounded people, that we began to understand the scale of the situation.”

Kisin also described the ominous atmosphere leading up to October 7th. “There was a feeling in the air that something was coming. Before Sukkot, a friend told her visiting family not to come because something was about to happen. A few days before Simchat Torah, my husband met with a friend, the security officer from Kibbutz Holit, and told him to prepare ammunition. On the Thursday before the attack, we came back from a family event and saw police lights in the Re’im forest. I didn’t even know there was a party there. I asked my husband if there was a war we hadn’t been told about.”

“Those of us living near the border sensed something was changing,” she added. “There were signs. I just don’t know where the army was at that moment.”

Now displaced, Kisin longs to return to her home. “If I could go back tomorrow, I would — but renovations haven’t started yet. My daughter and I hope to return by the end of the school year. I miss it deeply. I visited the kibbutz this week and felt the pull of the air, the place — it’s a part of me.”