On Saturday, October 7th, Israel woke up to a different reality. The small city of Ofakim, 30km from the Gaza border, and not normally in a high-risk security zone, was dealt a shocking and heavy blow. Less than an hour after Hamas began its attack, two trucks rolled into the southern city of Ofakim, packed with 14 terrorists and their arsenal. Spontaneous action on the part of residents and police officers, armed with knives, a few handguns, and eventually the terrorists’ own rifles, stopped the act, but not before the city lost 48 people, 18 of whom were killed while defending their community.
Many members were called up from the reserves, to go and fight at various fronts. Many others were evacuated and are set up in temporary shelters around the country. Those who stayed have described the town as a ghost town, with half the residents gone and the rest afraid to leave their homes. By the next day, despite unimaginable shock and trauma, a community emergency team was established, and began to map all of Ofakim's needs as well as needs in the broader area that the team could help.
Your donation will fund
A Family Therapy Centre at the Community Centre to support the recovery and rebuilding of the devastated town. This Centre will have a large hall and smaller rooms for family services such as counselling for families and couples, financial planning, and a range of treatments and services to support families as they recover from this life-changing experience.
Location
Ofakim is only 30km from the Gaza border, with just over 40,000 residents.