Support Families from Kibbutz Mefalsim

5/3 Update

This summer, Israel’s financial support to house the members of Kibbutz Mefalsim elsewhere will end. As a result, members are pressured to return to the kibbutz, even though the security situation is still unresolved and a war continues to be fought in Gaza, less than a mile away. Many families now face a difficult decision: return home to a potentially dangerous environment, or find ways to afford housing elsewhere. About 80 families have decided the latter, and are searching for a temporary home where they can continue to live together as a community, but in a safer location further from the Gaza border.

Beginning 5/3, funds raised will be used to cover rent for these families in their temporary homes until they feel safe enough to return to the kibbutz.

Rebuilding Kibbutz Mefalsim

On Saturday, October 7th, Israeli residents woke up to discover that they were under attack from the terrorist organization Hamas.

The toll of this attack has been staggering; as of 10/14 the death toll in Israel has exceeded 1,400. In a country the size of Israel, this impact of this loss is immense.

Among the most impacted have been the residents in the Israeli communities directly surrounding Gaza, where groups of terrorists marched from town to town, opening fire on homes and indiscrimately targeting civilians including children and the elderly. Survivors in these communities, many of them small and tight-knit, are reeling as they process their losses and cope with their new realities.

I'm fundraising for Kibbutz Mefalsim, one of these such communities, the home of my good friend Galia and her family. That Saturday morning in Mefalsim, a dozen security volunteers from the community heroically defended residents against 25 to 30 Hamas terrorists attacking the kibbutz. The long and frightening battle took places in multiple locations around the kibbutz and outside its gates, and security volunteers' efforts and bravery miraculously resulted in not a single resident killed or taken hostage. When soldiers finally arrived, they secured the area and assisted residents in departing the kibbutz; Mefalsim is now a closed military zone, and the majority of residents are temporarily staying together at a hotel north of Tel Aviv. For more details on the incredible defense of Mefalsim, refer to the WSJ article, "When Hamas Attacked, This Israeli Kibbutz Fought Back and Won."

For Galia's firsthand account of the attack, start from minute 58:

Despite these events and the damage to the kibbutz from gunfire, rocketfire, and grenades, most residents hope to return and rebuild.

Funds will be used for:

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