Sagi Shifroni is still clearly and understandably in shock. It’s been four weeks since Hamas stormed Kibbutz Be’eri where he lived with his wife Efrat, son Tsur, eight, and daughter Dror, five, and it’s only now that he has the strength to tell his story as he recovers from third-degree burns.

“I have a good ending and that is what keeps me going but I do not know how we survived. We should all be dead,” he tells the JC.

Natalie Libona story on man that evaded capture from Hamas during Oct 7th terror attack at Kibbutz (2)

The window Sagi Shifroni and his daughter leapt through to escape (Photo: handout)

It was a series of miracles, quick thinking and luck that kept Sagi and his entire family alive during the October 7 massacre.

That Shabbat, Tsur was staying with his grandfather, uncle and cousins on another part of the kibbutz when sirens warning of incoming rockets from Gaza sounded and woke them up at 6am. On instinct, Efrat decided to take the car to be with their son, leaving Sagi at home with Dror.

“We just thought it was another regular rocket attack,” said Sagi. “Dror was sleeping in the shelter and at some point she woke up, we took selfies and sent them to my wife to show her we were all right.

“Then we started to hear gunfire. That is a totally different sound compared to what I am used to.”

At this point Sagi locked the bomb shelter door. “I think I was the only one in any of the kibbutzim on the Gaza envelope that only had a door handle on the inside. Thanks to my wife we refurbished it a few years ago to ensure that no one else could enter from the outside.

"This saved our lives, for the first time, as Hamas stormed our home and tried to get us.” Sagi heard the terrorists break into their house, and try to shoot out the metal shelter door.

Natalie Libona story on man that evaded capture from Hamas during Oct 7th terror attack at Kibbutz (3)

The bicycle they used to flee (Photo: handout)

“I looked at my daughter under the bed and I thought I had to be calm and strong as a rock for her so she wouldn’t panic.”

No one had come to their rescue.

Sagi says many people died in the massacre trying to hold doors closed believing they were bullet-proof. But Hamas shot them to death through them.

“My daughter made me promise her that the bad guys wouldn’t get us. She was calm and quiet and she told me to put my hands down while I was texting for help. She told me to hide properly so they wouldn’t see us through the door.”

Then Sagi heard the terrorists setting fire to his home with them inside. “Smoke was starting to engulf us in the room and we couldn’t breathe. I realised we were going to die.”

Acting on pure instinct, half-dressed and barefoot, Sagi wrapped his daughter in a blanket. He says he doesn’t remember jumping out of the window. “When I opened the door of the shelter the entire house was on fire and it was impossible to get out. The next thing I knew I was on the grass outside. I have a memory blank.”

Sagi sustained third-degree burns to his feet and legs. After checking his daughter was OK they looked for water from a hosepipe and, feeling exposed, he hid his daughter behind a neighbour’s washing machine while he treated himself.

“I sent a photo to my wife of where Dror was so that if I was killed they knew where to find her. She was very quiet and calm and did not cry, she was amazing.”

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits Kibbutz Be'eri after the attack (Photo by Haim Zach/GPO)

At some point Sagi decided to get to his wife and family but he was unable to run due to his injuries. Luckily he found a bike with a child seat.

“The whole time on that bike we kept riding towards terrorists. Twice Dror saved us by pointing them out. She saved me as much as I saved her. We were together in this.”

Sagi’s father’s house was not under fire at that point. His brother and his family, including a baby and pet dog, all hid in the shelter and locked themselves in and jammed the door handle, keeping everyone away from the door. “The IDF was still not in the area at this point.”

An hour later, their worst nightmare came true again. Hamas were back at their door. They sat in the dark, hot and thirsty and crammed into a small space. “Luckily the children were calm and did not alert the terrorists. Even the dog seemed to have known not to bark.”

Hamas shot at the door several times. “They were in and out of the house but this time they didn’t try to break the door down.

“I don’t know why they left when they did but I guess the IDF was surrounding them at that point.”

“When the IDF arrived that evening around 7.30pm, we didn’t believe it was them. We questioned them a lot before we trusted them to open the door. It was worse than your worst nightmare. It’s a Holocaust story. The devil is outside your door.”