Dear Friends at EMIC and KCM,
Eight days ago my family and I woke up to the sound of sirens at 6:44 a.m.
We heard rockets hitting all around our house. A neighbor of mine, a 70-year-old friend, was killed as she ran to a bomb shelter.
A couple of hours later, I got a call from my commander in a Border Police unit I’ve volunteered in for the past 28 years. He asked me and another 10 guys from my community, all ex-Israel Defense Forces, to rush to the local police headquarters, put full gear on, take weapons and be prepared to defend our community at all costs with full infantry gear. The entire community was instructed to lock themselves up inside their homes and carry weapons they have.
This task continues till this moment, except residents are allowed to move about freely but to stay close to their homes. We’re a group of about 22 guys who take 24/7 shifts at defending our community.
Additionally, we had four funerals other than the one for the 70-year-old lady.
- Three 23-year-olds from our community were at the music festival. Communication with them ended at 8:40 a.m.
- A friend of mine (Shai, 52), jumped into his car and drove to the site of the party with no hesitation. (It’s a 30-minute drive from our house). On the way, he got on the phone with a friend of his who works at one of the cellular companies. They directed him to the location of the phone. When Shai got there, he found all three guys inside their car with the engine running, and all three dead after being sprayed by dozens of bullets.
He moved their bodies into his car, and drove them to a regional hospital near Gedera. Then, he drove to all three parents to tell them their kids were dead.
- Additionally, my close friend Erez lost his 30-year-old son, Yuval. Yuval was a reserve officer who was called up Oct 7. On Oct 9, Yuval and his platoon were ambushed near Sderot by 10 Hamas terrorists. Yuval and his radio sergeant were killed on the spot. All 10 terrorists were killed by Yuval’s remaining soldiers.
I am now beginning to organize a humanitarian and relief operation for civilians in despair. We will be:
- purchasing food, medicine, baby supplies, batteries and other essentials
- helping pregnant women relocate from stressful areas to safer hotels and inns around the country
- donating and sharing our resources with other organizations that have a good, organized capacity to multiply our own effort.
Our attention is beginning to shift up north to the Kiryat Shmone area, as that front is heating up rapidly and most resources have already begun to reach the southern (Gaza) front.
Two days ago, we managed to reach a freshly recruited company of 50 men, and blessed them with warm clothes and a lot of tactical gear such as binoculars, military watches, batteries and more.
We will continue to update on our work soon. Our primary focus now is on organizing our own logistics, vehicles and volunteers; and finding adequate protective gear for them so we can move around safely under fire of rockets in the Kiryat Shmone area. The Army will close all businesses soon to prevent large assembly of crowds. Our challenge will be to have supermarkets opened up for us so we can carry on our operations, and reach families in need of food and other supplies and people scared to get out of their bomb shelters.
On behalf of every person we will be a blessing to, I thank KCM and EMIC 🥰, and all of you ❤️❤️❤️, for your steadfast response to our need. Thank you!!!
The Hamas has managed to hit us hard, the most horrific terror attack Jews have faced in 75 years. It is on us, on our brave soldiers and on the resolve of our amazing society to make sure no such thing can ever happen or come out from Gaza. We are not afraid or scared. We will face the enemy, and we shall destroy them.
God bless you and never stop praying, please, for our soldiers and for the peace of Jerusalem.
Rani Levy
Building Israel
Learn more about Building Israel HERE.
Click HERE to contribute to Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ Bless Israel Fund.