By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Among the victims of the Hamas rampage in southern Israel was a 22-year-old off-duty soldier who, in a doomed bid to save himself and others holed up in a bomb shelter, tossed back at least seven grenades lobbed by Palestinian gunmen.
Newly released dashcam video shows the exterior of the roadside reinforced concrete structure where as many as 30 people fled from nearby Reim, venue of an outdoor dance party that was a major target of the Oct. 7 cross-border onslaught.
Among them was Aner Shapiro, an infantryman on leave who, in a cellphone photograph from within the shelter that was later circulated by local media, is seen perched at the entrance. Behind him, at least three people crouch, covering their heads in terror.
The dashcam footage from outside shows heavily armed Hamas attackers repeatedly scuttling to the entrance to hurl grenades inside. Within seconds, each can be seen flying back out and exploding.
At one point, a gunman can be seen shooting into the shelter in an apparent attempt to hit whoever was thwarting the grenade attacks. The cellphone picture of Shapiro appears to show a bullet hole in a wall opposite him.
According to survivors interviewed by Israeli media, it was Shapiro who caught and tossed back most of the grenades. He was not quick enough for the eighth, however. It exploded inside, killing him. Some two dozen others were then shot dead by Hamas.
A separate video taped by a Palestinian gunman showed at least two bloodied men and a woman being taken out of the shelter as captives.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that six or seven people inside the shelter had survived the ordeal, having been concealed from the gunmen’s view by the munitions smoke and the corpses, and had later made it back to safety.
The Jewish Chronicle of London said Shapiro was a dual British national.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)
