TEL AVIV, Israel -- For Israeli husband-and-wife Noam Tibon and Gali Mir-Tibon, Oct.7, 2023, began like any other day.They went for an early-morning swim off the Tel Aviv coast on that Saturday morning.
They heard sirens but continued to swim -- it was safer in the water.When they got back to their car, they checked their phones and saw a text from their son, Amir, that there was a terrorist inside their kibbutz, Nahal Oz, in southern Israel."I served 35 years in the military," Tibon, a retired Israel Defense Forces major general, told ABC News.
When he pinged IDF generals about the situation, he said they responded: "We are aware and are on the way." That phrase "on the way" surprised Noam, because Israel's vaunted military should already have been there."Something in my heart told me, 'Noam, you have to go there.'"Tune in to ABC News Live at 4 p.m.
and 8:30 p.m.on Monday, Oct.
7, for "Oct 7th: Race to Survive" -- special coverage of the anniversary of the conflict.Veteran correspondent Matt Gutman highlights voices of Israelis and Palestinians impacted by the war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.They raced southward, speeding through red lights, Mir-Tibon recounted.
She was driving, he was riding in the passenger seat, holding his pistol and frantically making calls."We are almost the only vehicle on the road," the novelist told ABC News."We get another text message [that] says, there are terrorists in our neighborhood, the new neighborhood of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
So it's getting worse."Along the way, they said they saw a police car blocking the road shooting at a white pickup that Mir-Tibon said they would later learn was a Toyota with Hamas terrorists.Gali Mir-Tibon speaks with ABC News' chief national correspondent Matt Gutman.ABC NewsThey stopped the car while bullets flew ahead of them debating what to do, Tibon said."Suddenly, a young couple jump from the bushes wearing party clothes, which is unusual in this situation," Tibon said.They were ba...