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Testimonies

First-hand accounts of October 7, held here in full.

179 accounts, archived from October7.org and reproduced as published — their text, their images and their credits unaltered. Most are available in 7 languages; each record carries its own.

These are people describing what happened to them. They are held here rather than linked to, so the record survives whatever happens to any one site. Each entry below names the witness, when the account was published, how much of it the archive holds, and which languages it exists in.

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Showing 1–24 of 179 records.

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I heard them say “There is someone here with a baby" — Ariel & Ellay G.
Three terrorists surrounded our car and started shootin — Arad F.
I saw them going house by house, trying to break in — Yoram B.
These are not things a child my age should see — Ella S.
I was scared to death. I knew I was going to die — Shaili A.
There was blood on the floor — Yonatan D.
The terrorists immediately threw a grenade to ensure killing me. It landed 10cm from my leg — Rahamim S.
I wrote ‘Dad, I was shot. Help — Neta P.
I thought I could spot them holding Kalashnikov rifles — Moti H.
Neta yelled “grenade!” and jumped on the third one — Ayelet S.E
It turned out she saw terrorists at the neighbors' back porch — Lior K.
Bullets whistled past my head — Lala L.
They put an explosive device on the door of the safe room — Dorin C.
We knew that as long as there were no calls or sirens, we would stay to help — Neta S.
We realized they want to burn us alive — Rotem C.
The army saw me and shouted at me to identify myself — Yuval B.
We crouched in the car, heads between our knees, while being shot at in volleys at the car — Roni S.
The shots made a hole in the door and through it, I saw the terrorist — Bar K.
I saw my father propel through the air, his hands were blown up, blood gushing — Gili Y.
I heard a volley of gunfire and felt a bullet in my back — Roee S.
I realized that if we stayed there, we would die — Ori C.
As I raised my head, he shot me — Itamar Y.
I explained to my children that they must be quiet or we would get killed — Amit D.
Three terrorists aimed Kalashnikovs at our heads and told us to get out — Yasmin P.
The terrorists were at our doorstep. I sat there with my son, petrified — Adele R.
They were walking, patrolling, looking for people. All day long, we heard them shouting in Arabic — Dor R.
Like pigs waiting for slaughter. We felt helpless, we saw the final end coming — Ofek D.
About 12 motorcycles with armed terrorists carrying Kalashnikovs and murder in their eyes — Noam N.
I looked up and saw above me two terrorists with black helmets — Ron S.
They slaughtered us, and I miraculously survived — Chanel B.
They went from house to house. Tormenting. Butchering. Slaughtering. Looting. Torching. Kidnapping — Liat A.M.
The terrorist didn’t know who to shoot first. He shot at me and luckily hit my bum — Shani L.
You’re running and someone is running next to you, and suddenly they fall — Natalya K.
What is better - being burned to death or being shot? — Lior C.
The terrorists were close and I wasn’t going to let them kidnap me — Sarshalom Y.
Another group of terrorists arrived - with a pickup truck to take us back in — Shavit B.
There were dozens of terrorists in front of us on motorcycles and they sprayed us with bullets — Carmel S.L
He saw beloved friends of ours, some shot all over their bodies, others burnt alive — Dorin R.
Every 20 seconds another motorcycle with two armed terrorists arrived — Shoval A.
There was a policeman who was bleeding. He didn't know what to say except to urge us to run away — Ninel K.
I tried to revive you, but there was no one to revive — Nissim G.
My eldest son said to me, “Mom, I don’t want to die on my birthday” — Dalit R.A.
The car was smashed and a girl ran out of it, covered in blood. Yarin said, "It’s Lior" — Liv S.
Mom, how do you know we will win? Sometimes the bad guys win — Chana C.
At night, I dream about terrorists breaking into my house, shooting and killing me — Aviv C.
People were crying, injured. Friends were dying right in front of them and they couldn’t do anything — Meir V.
I had to choose how I’d rather die. Whether by hiding or trying to escape — Miki S.
If a terrorist came up to me, I would do everything in my power so that he would kill me on the spot — Liron E.
I paid off the terrorist with all the money I had to save myself and my 95-year-old patient — Camille J.
We locked all the doors of the house, put the sofa in front of the door and prayed to God — Elior D.
They thought I was dead and tried to take my weapon — Ido S.
The terrorists were meters away from us, shooting and shouting “Jew! There’s a Jew! kill him!” — Eden S.
People were getting shot inside their cars, people were running and falling — Eyal G.
If the terrorists were to come, so be it. I could not change a thing — Iris G.
Anyone would rather be dead than kidnapped, especially if you're a woman. So I prayed to die quickly — Laura K.B.
It felt like I was in a crime scene on a TV show. I couldn't believe it was real — Shelly Z.
I positioned the children so that if someone came and sprayed us with gunshots, he might miss them — Almog H.
Bullets on the floor, blood on the door. That was our last piece of information — Esther B.
Every moment, someone else shouted, “Turn around! There’s a terrorist in this direction!” — Rotem A.
How do you forget the horror? How do you continue living? — Eden Y.
There were people shot in the head, in the face, bleeding, wounded from shrapnel and panicking — Batel A.
I held onto the hand of the dead body laying on top of me and said thank you for shielding me — Danielle S.
Nobody guessed that what would happen would destroy our lives — Hadar-or E.
I felt a sharp, explosive pain. BOOM - they hit me — Yuval U.
They had this gleeful, happy look as they slaughtered innocent people — Ido M.
I had no idea that there were 400 terrorists that had infiltrated the area — Bar D.
Outside, everything looked terrible, utterly destroyed, like a battlefield — Shai S.
Wherever there was shooting, we just ran in the opposite direction — Sahar R.
I waited for the final bullet that would hit me and kill me — Eden R.
We went as a group of 12 to the party but only 9 made it back — Omer B.D.
I carried a butcher’s knife and pepper spray, as if that would help — Anna Z.
Bursts of gunfire, explosion, more gunshots, yelling, explosion. An infiltration. Horror — Nadav T.
I started having severe panic attacks. I couldn’t breath or stand on my feet — Daniel C.
It took me a few minutes to realize that they were all dead bodies — Liraz U.
Gunshots persisted for hours, and we sat in the safe room, whispering to avoid detection — Aiala M.
My father's phone died, leaving me uncertain about my parents' fate — Atar K.
When we opened the safe room, a family emerged, exhausted. Two of them were in wheelchairs — Imri B.
08:10 was the last time he answered — Noam G.
We felt powerless, knowing we had no weapons, while all around us people were being killed — Karin B.D.
For 7 hours, while I was bleeding non-stop, we waited in silence — Yael R.
We were crawling in a ditch, seeing bodies around us. I saw the body of my friend — Batia H.
I cracked open the metal window of the safe room, contemplating escape, then a bullet struck my hand — Roee M.
We stood in the middle of the road, exhausted, signaling for the driver to stop — Bar M.
I sent a message to Omri every hour, so he’d know they hadn’t killed me yet — Aya M.
I thought this was my chance to escape, but I was wrong. They captured me. — Neomit D.
I started preparing, as best I could, to die — Maya E.
I asked the kids to cover their ears. If we stay alive, they don't need to remember what they hear — Katy L.
He pleaded for his life, but we were powerless to intervene as he was abducted in plain sight — Alona T.
The smell of heavy smoke filled the air, they were burning everything and setting houses on fire — Yoed K.
My father realized we were going to die either way, so we should at least try to escape — Celine B.
We saw two pickup trucks full of terrorists, racing towards us and firing at us rapidly — Roi A.
Lie under the car and I will play dead — Shani H.
We started realizing they were killing us, our friends, and their children in cold blood — Jude T.
Our bodies may be unharmed, but our souls are scarred and our hearts shattered — Adir D.
For those horrifying 21 hours, I was alone, in complete darkness — Lior T.
When he comes back and I see the knife, I understand — Victoria T.
My 29th birthday celebrations turned into my worst nightmare — Dor E.
I never thought I’d be in a position where I’d have to pray for my life — Alin M.
Between all the bombs, gunshots and screams, the birds were still singing — Maya A.
The silence gave us hope which the sounds of gunfire shattered — Dana N.
They launched grenades and kidnapped corpses like we were playing cops and robbers — Nativ A.
We realized the first vehicles in the traffic jam weren't moving because the passengers were dead — Eden S.
The safe room door swung open from the explosion. Everything became smoky, and we knew it was over — Livnat S.
They are burning her house down and they are suffocating from the smoke — Erez C.
Her convulsions and body movements left no doubt. But they shot her again to make sure she was dead. — Ram H.
Sderot is our home, Sderot is our heart, and our heart is crushed — Limor A.
I don’t care who or what is standing in our way, run over anything, just drive, drive, drive! — Victoria P.
I was surrounded by screams, sweat, blood, garbage and body parts — Naama G.
We were like sheep in a cage, searching for an opening in a fence where we could escape — Yonit K.
No matter what happens, just don’t look back — Yaniv M.
The blinds were shut, the doors locked. Silence. Don’t talk. Don’t breathe. They’re here — Naomi H.
The rush of adrenaline was unimaginable. I felt real danger for the first time in my life — Tamir L.
For a moment I thought we would die from dehydration before we die at the hands of terrorists — Galit K.
In that explosion I felt that I experienced a kind of death — Agam Y.
The terrorists are scanning the entire area and it is just a matter of time until they find us — Lior O.
He told me, “Don’t go to Be’eri, there’s an infiltration in Be’eri.” — Adir E.
There were no battle sounds, only voices, singing and dancing as they murdered all the people I love — Eden B.
Terrorists on motorcycles were slaughtering people — Alma C.
I place the children accordingly, in the safest spot, in front of the closet — Atar M.
That’s when I realized that we’d be executed if we didn’t run — Einav A.
I will not be another female soldier who was killed during a military operation. Not me — Anonymous soldier
If you were wondering - that’s what pure horror feels like — Oshra B.
I wrote my family that I love them and that I'm happy with the life I've had — Millet B.
We started the party as a group of nine, but we all left a big part of our souls there — Gal B.
I got shot. I totally embraced death — Yuval S.
As a kid, I had a nightmare. On October 7th, this nightmare came to life — Izik B.
The terrorist was looking straight into my eyes, firing like crazy — Noa B.
We hear the heartbreaking cries of a baby who hasn’t even celebrated his 1st birthday — Maya E.
Looking death in the eye — Almog S.
We miraculously managed to get through this massacre — Adi B.
Terrorists were walking around, searching for people to kill — Dor B.
It was a game of hide and seek between us and the terrorists — Rotem Y.
I could not hug her because our hands were tied. I put my head on her and just cried with her — Adi E.
Everything was burnt, broken or aflame — Noa B.
I just wish this was a movie — Efrat S.
He tells me all the things a man says to his wife when he doesn’t think he'll ever see her again — Ella M.
I keep sending messages. I beg for help. I write “HELP US!”, but no one is coming — Elad P.
We accepted the fact that we wouldn’t make it out alive — Lital A.
Help! We have terrorists in our house! — Michal R.
We were barricaded for hours. My father, 62 years old, fought terrorists to rescue us — Amir T.
We just wanted a party, we just wanted to dance — Gal M.
Our friends fell before our eyes, in our arms — Surveillance Operator
I was sure they would burn me alive, but God above watched over me — Dotan D.
Like a sheep being sent to be slaughtered, you are confused, running in every direction — Moran V.
Whoever leaves the shelter dies, and whoever stays dies as well — Avram R'
I want to live. This is not the time to die. I want to L-I-V-E. — Dor T.
I remained alone, looking to the sides and seeing people being murdered in front of my eyes — Yuval H
The terrorists were near the house, I prayed that the kids would stay quiet — Tzofiya M.
I smeared blood over my face and lay as if I was dead for three hours — May H.
The people with the biggest sense of giving, love, and happiness were taken from us — Dor B.
I called my mom when there were terrorists behind me, and next to me a girl who got shot in the head — Vlada B.
I’m looking at the sky - one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. And then, rockets — Sagi G.
The absurd part about it is that I hope he is being held hostage — Shay A.
I gave them food and drinks. I was afraid if they got hungry they would start shooting — Rachel E.
We are fighting a vicious enemy who has slaughtered innocent people. — Dan G.
We saw them from our bedroom window, and my body froze — Viki M.
Every turn with the car, that didn’t end with us being murdered, made me exhale in relief — Nataly K.
We will no longer be able to smile — Miri A.
They were burning my neighbours house while we were hiding — Eldad H.
Tons of terrorists under our building, and I kept my poker face because of my children — Maayan S.
The terrorists took their cellphones, we were begging for help — Hadas K.
Terrorists landed from the sky using parachutes, killing everyone for being Jewish — Ben S.
We heard Arabic while receiving messages from the parents' group: terrorists are inside homes — Maayan P.
Terrorists were gunning down everyone in sight, like it was a computer game — Vlada P.
All I could think of was - this is it. My life is over. — Yam S.
He looks at me, shocked, and yells 'They shot her! get out of here!' — Moti S.
Then the fire alarm went off and I thought for sure now I’m going to die — Anonymous soldier
The entire base was filled with the bodies of all my friends — Ariella R.
We ran for our lives, hand in hand, and I said - "At least we die together" — Tal & Yamit O.
I was planning how I would react if they entered — Einat S.
We saw them all dead, and we knew we were next — Noa B.
We were running like ducks at a shooting range — Raz C.
He was murdered in front of the very eyes of his children — Reut K.
From heaven to hell — Omer U.
That's when it his us: they were speaking in Arabic — Michal Z.
I was terrified they would fire at us through the car window — Shelly L.
The officer yelled - 'Everyone run! there are terrorists!'. — Yarin H.
We could see on the terrorists faces that they were enjoying it, smiling — Sahar B.
I say I don’t have the strength to run anymore, you say we don’t have a choice — Amit B.