My daughter was cleaning up blood and then realized it was her dead father… villagers in the kibbutz of October 7 are still terrified

THE house-proud mum scrubbed a stubborn stain on the floor of her home as the tidying up began.

A dark spot had appeared that she couldn't explain – until she noticed that the substance she was using had turned red.

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This was the moment 45-year-old mother of three Ruti Barsinai realized she was cleaning up the blood of her murdered father.

Because this was no ordinary household chore – it was one of many harrowing ordeals that survivors of the massacre are now facing as they return to the devastated country. Israeli kibbutz village of Be'eri.

A Sun team returned to kibbutz communities along the coast Gaza border, four months after the October 7 horrorand discovered that dozens of traumatized victims have returned.

A major clean-up operation is underway, amid the ongoing boom of the Gaza war raging just three kilometers away and the deafening explosions from outgoing Israeli artillery.

And against all odds, life is slowly returning to the villages that were abandoned hours after the disaster Hamas disaster that killed 1,200 people and 250 were kidnapped.

Ruti is still too traumatized to be photographed and does not dare to let her children stay in the destroyed kibbutz.

But she now spends nights in the two-story building in the once idyllic community where her father died defending her with his gun.

And she's not the only one resisting.

Her elderly mother Nili, 73, poured out her grief pride and sadness yesterday as she paid tribute to her husband Yoram, 75, who died trying to protect their daughter.

Terrible sounds

The gran of 11, who has also returned to Be'eri, is among about 50 survivors trying to retrieve the plane. wires of their lives.

She said: “What if they come back and kill me? This is my home and I belong here – where else would I go at my age?

“When the shooting started on October 7, my husband went out on his bicycle to protect our daughter and her family. He was an ex-military man, but he only had a gun against hundreds of armed men running through the kibbutz.

“He took up a position on a balcony with his rifle and tried to fend them off, but seven of them ran up the stairs and shot him dead.

“My daughter survived with her three children by keeping the door to their safe room closed for 20 hours before being evacuated.

“It was all she could do to protect three children sitting there frozen behind her, looking at the door, expecting them to come in at any moment.

“Sitting in complete silence, complete darkness, hearing terrible noises outside – shooting, women screaming for help and joyfully shouting 'Allahu akbar!'

“Messages from friends and neighbors then showed up on her phone and said, “They're here.” . . they set a fire. . . no air . . . they kill us. . . I love you . . . bye'.

“When a rocket-propelled grenade exploded on the wall of the safe room, she realized that her father was already dead and that she was the only one protecting her children.

“I was the last person to leave Be'eri after two days in my safe room nearby, after our kibbutz turned into a battlefield.

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“Our soldiers had to blow up one of my neighbors' houses with a tank to kill about fifty terrorists inside and I lost a lot of friends, as well as my husband – it was hell.”

Incredibly, survivors of the massacre – in which killings and kidnappings wiped out more than a tenth of the 1,100-strong community – began returning within two days.

They were followed by volunteers from across Israel, armed with mops, buckets and vacuum cleaners, who fought to clean up the bloodstains, bullet casings and debris.

Nili described Ruti's traumatic homecoming: “My daughter was cleaning when she discovered a stain in the living room under the balcony.

I still hope that one day we will be able to live in peace and that our lives will be as good, if not better, than before.

'It wasn't until she started scrubbing that she realized it was her father's blood. He had been shot over that spot and his blood had seeped down while she was gone.

'You can imagine how painful that was for her – it was awful – but she continued to clean.

“She has stayed in the house several nights since then because it is her home. She will not be driven out.”

Willing to tolerate Hamas rockets

Be'eri and Israeli kibbutz villages along the Gaza border were once idyllic rural refuges, populated by idealists campaigning for peace with their Palestinian neighbors.

Locals have been willing to tolerate the constant threat of rocket fire from Hamas in recent years because they have a series of pristine oasis communities in the once arid Negev desert.

But days after the massacres, we found ghost towns littered with blood, bullets and burnt-out cars, with bodies of slain Hamas fighters piled on trucks.

Many destroyed buildings still need to be repaired, but the bloodstains and other physical signs of the battle were gone when we returned yesterday.

And we were surprised to be greeted by groups of diehard locals – like Nili – whose courage increasingly inspires us to return.

She said: 'I still hope that one day we will be able to live in peace and that our lives will be as good, if not better, than before.

“But that won't happen as long as we have Hamas among our neighbors in Gaza.”

Builder Eran Betito, a 46-year-old father of three, was the first Be'eri resident to return to the kibbutz – armed with an assault rifle, just two days after the chaos.

With his gun still slung over his shoulder, he said, “I love this place and now I'm staying.”

“It's still not safe enough to bring my family back, but that's what I'm aiming for once Hamas is gone.

“I lost many friends on October 7 and will never forget spending sixteen hours in a safe room hearing the bombs, the shooting and the screaming.

“But we must not give up. We have to rebuild, and we will.”

A 77-year-old pensioner from Be'eri – who gave his name only as Giora – has also returned with his elderly wife and cheerfully participated in the clean-up work yesterday.

He was speaking about his eternal dream to live in peace – when his words were cut short by the explosion of outgoing Israeli artillery fire on Gaza. He said: “I have spent my whole life here but on October 7 I was locked in a safe room with my terrified grandchildren.

'But the story won't end like this. I won't let that happen. This was a beautiful place and I want it to be great again. So see our children back to school and life coming back. That is our dream.”

One house that remained locked and empty in Be'eri yesterday was the house where a British mother and her two daughters were murdered.

Bristol-born Lianne Sharabi, 48, and daughters Noiya, 16, and 13-year-old Yahel died in the massacreand their 53-year-old uncle Yossi were killed after being taken hostage.

'The smell of death is still too strong'

Family members struggle to get into the smart semi, now decorated with a poster of the girls' father, Eli, 51 – the only one in the family survivor who is still being held hostage in Gaza.

But the sisters' uncle Sharon, 48, told The Sun: “I couldn't stay there – the smell of death is still too strong.

“I know other people are returning, but our family is still struggling after such a terrible loss. Our lives will never be the same again.”

In the nearby kibbutz Kfar Aza, just three kilometers from the Gaza border fence, where 80 locals were killed and 18 were kidnapped, only a small group of brave survivors have returned.

Shahar Shnorman, 62, and his wife Ayelet, 55, were the first to return. But they spent 45 days as the ghost town's sole residents, and have since been joined by just one other couple in a village that remains an official no-go area.

On October 7, the terrified Shnormans spent 30 hours locked in their safe room while dozens of people around them were killed, including neighbor Nira Ronen.

Shahar told The Sun: “The first night back was dark and scary and there was no one else around, but now I don't feel scared like I did at the beginning and there is less noise from the fighting.

“And now we stay where we are – this will always be our home. I want to show that it is possible to come back, and not be chased out of my home.

“I'm trying to clean up a bit and think of a time when everything will be better. But I want our old life back, I want to hear children playing here again.

“At that time we lived in peace and cooperation with the Arab people and believed in helping our neighbors – the people of Gaza.

'We never dreamed they would come and kill us.

“Now I hope for peace. It sounds crazy to say this today, but I hope we get there.”

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