Two soldiers who survived an attack by Hamas on their observation outpost on the 20th day of last summer's Operation Protective Edge told Channel 2 News on Sunday evening that they wanted to speak out so that people would know that their slain fellow soldiers fought courageously. "The incident [we were involved in] didn't end well. We'll tell you what really happened there, so people know those soldiers battled and defended their country," the soldiers said. Eight cadets from the IDF squad commanders' course were positioned in the observation tower at Nahal Oz when the attack occurred. Sgt. David Ariv and Sgt. Yedidya Kapah, two of the three survivors, recounted the events. According to Ariv and Kapah, six soldiers were in the lower part of the outpost, while two were on lookout at the top, inside the pillbox. None of them noticed the cell of Hamas terrorists that had emerged from a tunnel opening right next to the tower and was making its way toward the outpost. The Hamas members opened heavy fire on the outpost from three directions. Ariv, the commander, tried to organize his troops to return fire. "Right away there were shouts in Arabic and shooting, and more shouts," Ariv recalled. "Shots were being fired from 5 to 6 meters away from me. They had long, black beards. Some had Hamas headbands. While the guys were shooting, I was jumping from right to left to see what I could identify, what was in front of me, to decide what to do. "I looked to the right and saw three terrorists standing at the gate. I shouted [to the soldiers]: 'Return fire -- prepare for an ambush!' I looked each of them in the eyes and hoped that they understood me." Meanwhile, the two soldiers in the pillbox were trying to shoot out of the small openings in the walls. One of them was Kapah, who said they could barely see anything. "I was inside the structure. I couldn't throw a grenade because I didn't know where my buddies were downstairs. I didn't see them. I shot off a few rounds in the direction of the pillbox opening and saw three terrorists at the gate. One of them was big, without a helmet," Kapah said. Five soldiers were killed in the ambush: Sgts. Dor Dery, Daniel Kedmi, Nadav Raimond, Erez Sagi and Barkey Ishai Shor. Responding to criticism voiced after the attack about the soldiers' conduct, Ariv said: "I've heard a lot of stories, and a lot of things were said about how they were scared. I saw those soldiers shooting, returning fire. That's why we're doing this. So people know what happened there."
