From close combat to close combat and for long hours without a break - Elia Ben Shimol, the Combat Team Commander of Kerem Shalom, 8 members of the readiness squad and 4 Nahal fighters, stood face to face with dozens of terrorists on 10/7. 

Now, he is receiving a certificate of excellence for his work over the past year, and is recreating for us the dramatic moments from the war over the fate of kibbutz Kerem Shalom.

Three years before that terrible Sabbath of 10/7, Elia Ben Shimol, a former Golani fighter, was appointed to the Combat Team Commander of Kerem Shalom. He was involved in protecting the residents, training for readiness, and cooperating with the fighters who took up positions in the sector. "This is total dedication "For the security of the community," he testifies, "I am the liaison between the army and the kibbutz, and this is a full-time job in every sense of the word."

Then came the moment when that "job" made him look death in the eye - and charge forward. 

On a Saturday that had begun as a peaceful and family-oriented one, and had turned into a difficult and intense day of battle. "If I had to give it a title, I would say it was a crazy day," he begins to recount.

With the first volleys of rockets, he jumped in with his eight friends from the readiness class, and four more Sayeret Nahal fighters who were taking up positions on the kibbutz at the time. "From 7:00 a.m. - we move from battle to battle, from incident to incident," he continues, "It started at one end of the settlement with a number of terrorists, continued with an explosion in another area - and the few of us conducting both battles simultaneously."

While they were facing them, another bigger threat arrived: Dozens of terrorists surrounding the northern area of ​​the settlement, approaching a family home, who rushed to report to Elia about shouts in Arabic coming from the yard. "The terrorists broke into the building and attached an explosive device to the door of the security company," describes the commander, "When we arrived, we already saw the events unfolding from there - and we immediately went into action."

Through stubborn fighting, they managed to save the eight members of the family and extricate them. They quickly put a tourniquet on the wounded father, and realize that during the battle they also lost two members of the command squad - the late Amichai Weitzen and the late Yedid Raziel.

They continued to fight against the terrorists who continue to blow up the defensive walls of the kibbutz and tried to penetrate deep into it. They did this for many hours, until a large reinforcement force from the Bisalach Brigade arrived. And that wasn't the end: "Shortly after, during the searches we were conducting, another rocket barrage began - in which the last fighter from the battle on the kibbutz fell."

The odds were against them, the ammunition was low, and yet - Elia Ben Shimol and the 12 other fighters prevented a much greater disaster, and he has one explanation for this: "The terrorists did break through the concrete walls, but the human wall remained strong and the fighting spirit led us forward."

We go back to those moments, 14 months later, and with time, many thoughts come that were not expected in the midst of the battle. "Suddenly I realize that every decision I made, every command step had an impact and perhaps even made the difference between life and death," he shares, "I think about the instructions I gave the fighters, and wonder what would have happened if had I acted differently."

And no matter what, he will forever remember what happened there - with his family within touching distance: "I sent my wife a dot every so often, as a kind of sign of life. It was a difficult decision to say goodbye to them at such moments and go out to fight, but we knew it was what had to be done, and I will never forget the madness of it."

Last week, he and three other settlement commander: Harel Oren (from Reim), Benny Meshulam (from Shlomit) and Andrei Dostov (from Avshalom), received certificates of merit from the Southern Brigade of the Gaza Division. "Although the four of us were the representatives, our story is no different from that of any of our colleagues in the position," he insists. "They are all heroes and dedicated, and it is important to know and feel that our work is appreciated."

"There is no doubt that there are difficult moments in this role. My family is currently evacuated, and I am still here on the kibbutz," he shares. "But at the same time, I remember very well the reason I came to the position: the mission, the values ​​- and in the end, saving lives."