Another hero: Aner Shapiro
Fst. Sergeant Aner Shapiro saves tens of lives on Oct. 7 massacre
On the morning of Oct. 7, Fst. Sergeant Aner Shapiro, 22 years, of the Nahal brigade, was on vacation from his army service and the night before he was partying at the Nova party at the fields of Re’im Kibbutz with his friends when the slaughter by the Hamas terrorists at the party began. He and many other young people took cover at one of the many mobile shelters scattered around the Gaza Strip. These mobile shelters are meant to keep civilians safe from rockets, not insurgency.
The moment Aner arrived at the scene, he took charge of the situation, calming the many scared and panicking young people who crowded the shelter. He told them that, as active army personnel, he could vouch for their safety and that the army was on its way to save them.
He started calling his army friends and telling them where they were, what is the situation and requesting immediate rescue. This, somewhat, calmed the sheltered young people from the Nova party. They saw they had a hero, a champion that would save them. The only weapon he had was a broken beer bottle.
Very soon after, several terrorists came and surrounded the mobile shelter. They tried to throw at least 7 grenades into the shelter. They didn’t care how many people they would kill, slaughter was the only thing on their minds. Aner caught with his hands all these grenades and threw them out of the shelter, saving the many lives inside while also injuring at least one of the terrorists. Aner jumped on the last grenade to save lives and was mortally wounded.
At least 3 Israelis from this shelter were kidnapped to Gaza to be held as bargaining chips in the sick game Hamas is playing with humanity. Many others were mortally wounded and bled to death. Others were saved and they were the ones who told the story of this hero, fighting against the odds, and the horrors these young people, who only wished to celebrate life, had to go through.
