At around 7:25 AM on October 7, 2023, ten Hamas terrorists from the Nukhba force, riding motorcycles, infiltrated the Urim Base near Kibbutz Urim in the western Negev, in the Ofakim region. Their intended target was the nearby SIGINT intelligence base, but due to a navigational error, they entered the Home Front Command base instead. The attackers aimed to seize control of the base, kill, and abduct soldiers. At the time, 13 Home Front Command soldiers were present, along with a commander who was urgently called from his home during the assault.
At 07:26, the terrorists placed an explosive device at the base gate, breached the entrance, and within minutes killed two female soldiers near the soldiers’ quarters and another soldier near the armory. They then stormed the command post, where they killed an additional soldier.
Nearly an hour after the initial infiltration, a force from the 414th Battalion began engaging the terrorists. In the interim, the attackers had also entered deeper into the camp, killing three more female soldiers. Over the following hours, IDF forces fought the terrorists and ultimately eliminated all of them. By 10:40 AM, the camp was secured and cleared.
Camp Urim was the most distant military base from Gaza that the terrorists managed to reach during the October 7 attack.
5/ מחבל בודד הצליח לחדור לבסיס והגיע לחדר הסגל שהיה צמוד למיגונית בה שהו כחמישים טירונים ואזרחים. בחדר הסגל שכבה באותה עת סמלת נועה זאבי, שנפצעה קשה באחת העמדות וחולצה על ידי 4 טירונים שהתנדבו לעזור. זאבי טופלה בידי מיכל אלון, אשת הרב, אזרחית ואחות במקצועה. >> pic.twitter.com/HMny8wLoI5
— ???????? Itay Timor (@itay_timor) May 27, 2025
This week, the operational investigation into the battle at Urim Camp was completed, and its findings were presented to the bereaved families, camp personnel, and the security forces who fought and were present on October 7. The investigation concluded that the swift and courageous actions of the commanders and troops who joined the battle were instrumental in thwarting the terrorists’ objective.
The investigation praised the heroism of the soldiers at the base, highlighting their exceptional bravery under extreme conditions. Many of the soldiers came from challenging backgrounds, yet rose to the occasion and fought with remarkable courage. Ultimately, all the terrorists were eliminated, no soldiers were taken captive, and there were no instances of body desecration or other atrocities witnessed at other locations and posts that day.
However, the investigation also revealed that the camp’s defense system was not adequately prepared for an infiltration and assault of such magnitude. As a result, the terrorists were able to carry out a deadly rampage within the camp before the entire enemy squad was ultimately neutralized by IDF forces.
In the battle to defend the camp, eight soldiers and commanders were killed, including the duty officer Captain Alina Pervosudova and several others were wounded. The investigation revealed that the terrorist squad that reached the camp was significantly smaller than Hamas had intended, consisting of ten operatives instead of the planned thirty. This reduction in force was likely due to earlier battles near Kibbutz Magen and at a nearby gas station, which prevented the remaining terrorists from reaching their original destination, the SIGINT base.
The investigation found that the IDF camp’s defense system was not prepared for a large-scale, surprise infiltration. The existing readiness measures were based on the assumption of a lone terrorist infiltrator, likely originating from Judea and Samaria—not from the Gaza Strip—despite the base being located just 16 kilometers from the Gaza border.
