Shabi Family

The family that hid behind trees and branches

The Shabi Family

After terrorists set fire to their house, the Shaabi family - Moran, Itai, and their two children, were forced to flee the safe room to avoid suffocation. For five hours, they hid behind a tree in their yard. When smoke reached them there, they hid under a pile of cuttings until IDF soldiers evacuated them

Shabi family members: Moran, Itay, Benaya, and Sinai. Photo: Itay Shabi

The family that hid behind trees and branches

The Shabi Family

Minute by Minute Circle
06:34
~07:20
~08:30
10:05
10:45
~10:50
~14:30
~15:30
~20:30
~21:30

The sequence of events

Minute by Minute

Click on the points on the timeline for a real-time tour. Clicking on the icons will display the event documentation.

06:34

Alarms in Beeri

~07:20

Terrorists knocking on door of house

~08:30

A second knock at the door

10:05

Terrorists infiltrate the house

10:45

Terrorists set fire to the house

~10:50

Shabi family escapes the house

~14:30

The smoke also reaches the yard

~15:30

Escape under fire

~20:30

The IDF arrives

~21:30

The Shabi family leaves the kibbutz

Exit Media
Exit Media

Even before the first alarms sounded in Beeri, Itay and Moran Shabi and their children Benaya and 3.5-year-old Sinai, hear the echoes of loud explosions and wake up. When the alarms go off, the family members go into the safe room

Exit Media
The Shabi family
The Shabi family Photograph: Family Album
Exit Media
From correspondence in the family WhatsApp group
Itay
We are being stupidly bombed
06:32 07/10/2023
Itay
The biggest barrage ever
06:32 07/10/2023
Itay
War started
06:32 07/10/2023
Itay
non-stop
06:32 07/10/2023
Itay's Dad
Oh dear
06:32 07/10/2023
Itay
At least 50 in less than 5 minutes and it's not over yet
06:33 07/10/2023
Itay
Listen, it's crazy.
06:33 07/10/2023
Itay
It's not stopping
06:33 07/10/2023
Itay's Dad
Itay they are shooting at us
06:34 07/10/2023
Itay
Something surreal and scary
06:34 07/10/2023
Itay
Now there is a Red Color alarm
06:34 07/10/2023
Itay
Caught me on the toilet
06:35 07/10/2023
Itay's Dad
same with us
06:35 07/10/2023
Itay's Sister
by us, too
06:35 07/10/2023
Exit Media

The Shabi family hears gunshots and shouting in Arabic outside the house. Moran Shabi, who was partially clothed, asks Itay to bring her pants from the bedroom. Itay, seeing terrorists through the window, crawls into the bedroom, brings Moran a pair of pants, and returns to the safe room. Upon his return to the safe room, terrorists knock on the door of the house, but do not break in

Exit Media
From correspondence in the family WhatsApp group
Itay
I got shots outside the house
07:20 07/10/2023
Itay
There's a terrorist here.
07:20 07/10/2023
Itay's sister
Watch out
07:20 07/10/2023
Itay
oh my
07:20 07/10/2023
Itay's second sister
are you locked in Itai
07:21 07/10/2023
Exit Media

During the morning hours, Itay stands at the door of the safe room and leaves it half-open. At the same time, Moran sits on the bed in the safe room with the children, Benaya and Sinai, who sleep intermittently. Around 8:30, terrorists knock again on the door of the house and again decide not to break through it

Exit Media
The family's safe room
The family's safe room Photo: Itay Shabi
Exit Media

Terrorists enter the house and murder the family dog "Karma". Then, for about half an hour, they demolish the house, breaking walls and ceilings. The terrorists also try to break through the door of the safe room but do not succeed - Itay Shabi firmly holds the door and prevents them from entering

Exit Media
The entrance to the family home after the massacre
The entrance to the family home after the massacre Photo: Itay Shabi
Exit Media

The terrorists place a tire at the opening of the air conditioning system leading to the safe room and set it on fire. The house begins to catch fire

Exit Media
    • Disable
    Itay shows where the terrorists placed the tire. Photo: Itay Shabi
    Exit Media

    A few minutes after the arson, the members of the Shabi family begin to choke on the smoke and realize that they must get out. Itay and Moran decide to surrender, but the safe room door will not open: the terrorists have broken the handle from the outside. Itay opens the window and jumps out along with his family members. They hide under a dwarf palm tree in their yard

    Exit Media
    Itay and Moran hiding under the dwarf palm tree.
    Itay and Moran hiding under the dwarf palm tree. Photo: Itay Shabi
    Exit Media
    The window through which Itay Moran and the kids escaped
    The window through which Itay Moran and the kids escaped Photo: Itay Shabi
    Exit Media
    From correspondence in the family WhatsApp group
    Itay
    They burned our house down, we jumped out the window. Hiding outside.
    00:23 07/10/2023
    Itay
    they're burning our house down
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay
    And no one is coming
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay
    The smoke was getting into the safe room
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay's brother
    Don't leave the safe room
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay's second sister
    who do we call??
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay's second sister
    send your location
    10:55 07/10/2023
    Itay's second sister
    Close the openings of the air inlet
    10:56 07/10/2023
    Itay's brother
    Itay send your location
    10:58 07/10/2023
    Itay's brother
    I'll send to the police
    10:58 07/10/2023
    Itay's Mom
    Itay how are you??
    11:08 07/10/2023
    Itay's Mom
    Make a sound
    11:08 07/10/2023
    Itay's Mom
    Itay a signal please just a letter
    11:47 07/10/2023
    Itay's sister
    Mom, relax.
    11:51 07/10/2023
    Exit Media
      • Disable
      Itai showing where they hid from the terrorists. footage: Itai Shabi
      Exit Media
        • Disable
        Another angle on the hiding place. Media: Itai Shabi
        Exit Media
          • Disable
          The door of the safe room that the terrorists broke. Footage: Itai Shaby
          Exit Media

          The family members find it difficult to breathe because smoke also reaches the yard of the house. Moran asks Itay to bring a bucket of water, which is elsewhere in the yard, to wet the shirts to make it easier for the children to breathe. Itay crawls towards the bucket and returns to the hiding place under the tree. Benaya and Sinai manage to breathe better

          Exit Media
          The charred pergola at their home.
          The charred pergola at their home. Photo: Itay Shabi
          Exit Media

          The family members choke again and decide to escape. Itay heads out towards the path by the house, and Moran runs after him, with each of them clutching one of the children. During the run, terrorists who are on the roof of one of the houses shoot at them, but they manage to escape. After running about 400 meters, the family finds shelter in a grove adjacent to the kibbutz fence. They cover themselves in a pile of branches to hide from the terrorists

          Exit Media
          The pile of branches behind which the family members hid
          The pile of branches behind which the family members hid Photo: Itai Shabi
          Exit Media
            • Disable
            “How did they not see us? “, recreates Itay Photo: Itay Shabi
            Exit Media
              • Disable
              Itay recreating how they fled to the grove. Photo: Itay Shabi
              Exit Media

              Itay Shabi hears people speaking Hebrew from a distance and recognizes it as an IDF soldier. A Shayetet fighterstanding beyond the kibbutz fence approaches the fence and asks Itay how to enter Beeri. After about half an hour, about 50 fighters manage to break through the fence and enter the kibbutz. A few minutes later, an IDF jeep leads the family members to the entrance gate to the kibbutz

              Exit Media

              Some soldiers drive family members toward Givat Shula, which is about 200 meters from the kibbutz, where a civilian who arrived to rescue people from the disaster zone is waiting for them. He drives the family members to Rehovot, where Binyamin Shabi, Itay's brother, awaits them. Binyamin drives the family members to his home in Petah Tikva, where they spend the night

              Exit Media
              The guitar Itay Shabi would play
              The guitar Itay Shabi would play Photo: Itay Shabi

              The Day After

              8.10.2023

              Family Moves to Pardes Hanna

              12.10.2023

              Family move to the Dead Sea

              22.10.2023

              Moran's parents are laid to rest

              1.1.2024

              The family moves to Rishpon
              Exit Media

              Moran's parents, Yuval and Maayan Bar, who lived on the kibbutz until October 7th, remain missing at this time. The family members movie into Moran's sister, Noy Vardi Bar, who lives in Pardes Hanna

              Exit Media

              Itai, Moran and their children move to the Dead Sea and join the other members of the kibbutz

              Exit Media

              Mother Moran's parents, Yuval and Maayan Bar murdered in Beeri, are laid to rest

              Exit Media
              Yuval and Maayan Bar Murdered in Kibbutz Beeri Yuval and Maayan Bar Murdered in Kibbutz Beeri
              Exit Media

              Shabi family moves to Rishpon

              Exit Image
              Exit Media