Hamas Terrorist Invaders Still Hiding in Israel as IDF Works to Track Them Down

Six days after Hamas terrorists conducted the barbaric attacks that targeted unarmed civilians inside Israel, Israeli police and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units are still hunting terrorists who remain hidden in the town of Sderot and the surrounding areas. 

Located near the border between Israel and Gaza, the town of around 30,000 was Ground Zero when the terror attacks began on Oct. 7. Sderot was one of the first towns Hamas terrorists entered, indiscriminately killing civilians, engaging in a firefight with police and killing several officers when they overpowered the town’s police station. An IDF counter-terrorism unit arrived and eliminated the assailants in the station. 

Now, almost a week later, IDF soldiers and police officers are still finding and killing terrorists cowering in basements and stores, hiding in abandoned houses, and even on rooftops, according to USA Today. 

“Their food and water supply are running out,” a sniper in an anti-terrorism police unit in Sderot told the outlet. “We’re getting more of them now because they need to do something. Move from place to place.”

It is estimated more than 1,000 Hamas terrorists infiltrated 22 Israeli towns and army bases in a planned multi-front attack, according to USA Today.  The outlet reported as of Tuesday night in Sderot and the surrounding areas, almost two dozen militants had been discovered and killed.

Police Overwhelmed with Calls: ‘People Are Afraid’

Ron Valdman, an Israeli police commander who’s in charge of a region that includes Sderot and other urban centers told USA Today his officers are receiving a flood of calls from locals “who hear terrorists, who hear shootings… People are afraid.”

Valdman told the outlet about 1% of these calls turn out to be a real lead, it’s “a real case, a real event” and the Hamas terrorist is either captured or killed. 

The police commander told USA Today he thinks the fast reaction from his officers prevented an even larger massacre of civilians in Sderot.

“Of course, we are trained to deal with terrorism but most of the time we are dealing with crime and ordinary citizen concerns around here,” Valdman said. 

But more Hamas terrorists might still be hiding in the surrounding areas around the town even though the IDF thought they had been cleared. That fact became a reality on Tuesday in Kibbutz Re’im located about 21 miles northeast of Sderot, when a Hamas attacker tried to kill an Israel soldier with a knife, according to Sky News. The attacker was shot dead by another Israeli soldier. 

The town is located near the site of the Supernova Music Festival where the mass murder of 260 attendees took place. 

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