On October 7, IDF outposts adjacent to the Gaza border were simultaneously attacked. Hamas terrorists breached the fence and entered Israeli territory to seize the outposts and kill its occupants. One of the many stories of heroism in this war occurred at the Nahal Oz outpost, where the late Captain Eden Nimri fought the terrorists to her death and saved the lives of several soldiers who hid in a nearby shelter.
Lieutenant R., Eden's partner described his great sorrow after the death of his partner, but clarified that it was not the time to mourn. "We buried her, and it was very difficult because she was the love of my life," Lieutenant R. recounted. "But we are a strong army, with a strong spirit and a strong country, and now my personal feelings matter less. Now we need to fight for this country and bring back the residents' security, and that's what Eden would have done - that's why on that Saturday I made the decision to return to the army because we need to defend the country. We have no other country and we need to be strong."
Nimri was a competitive swimmer until the age of 18 and was part of the national team. She gave up the option of a service that would have allowed her to maintain her athletic lifestyle and enlisted in the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy instead. Ultimately, Nimri joined the unit, where she met Lieutenant R. After completing her training course, she became an officer and began commanding her own team.
"She had the option to be an outstanding athlete and to take on a less significant role, but she chose the hardest route, which is a flight course. I had an amazing relationship with her, we had a lot of plans for the future. My family is her family and we're together. And truly, she was the love of my life."
Lieutenant R. explained that he investigated the attack on the Nahal Oz outpost, where Nimri served, and reconstructed what happened that Saturday morning. "It was Shabbat and also a holiday, Eden and her team were in civilian clothes and flip-flops and heard explosions, so they wanted to get to the shelter with their weapons."
"The shelter was built with two entrances, on both sides. And together with Eden's team, which included four combat soldiers, a lot of reconnaissance soldiers also arrived, who were unarmed and simply stood there helpless. Eden, with her courage and composure, understood that it was not a rocket siren, but rather an infiltration of terrorists and understood that she needed to cover the second entrance as well."
"She was so courageous, I don't know where she got such courage from, but I'm not surprised, going alone to the other corner of the shelter and understanding that the terrorists were going to enter from there. She simply took that corner to protect her girls and the soldiers without calling anyone. According to the testimonies, that's one of the things that saved these girls' lives. She looked at her girls and told them to go to the second corner. She led the way, and then all of them followed, and immediately an armed terrorist entered from their entrance and they managed to kill him. It saved their lives."
"Then several terrorists entered from Eden's entrance and began throwing grenades. Eden started a firefight with the terrorists there. Those who were there managed to escape thanks to Eden taking the fire and defending them with her life and body. They entered the safe room and simply waited there until the rescue team came."