"Confirm receipt!": A Soldier’s Unanswered Pleas on October 7th

In a moment you will hear the voice of 19-year-old Sargeant Roni Eshel.

Sargeant Roni Eshel

On the morning of October 7^th, Hamas terrorists blew up the border fence and approached the Nahal Oz IDF base where she and 14 other young women served as “scouts” in an elite intelligence unit.

This audio recording of Roni, from the earliest moments of the Hamas infiltration and attack on Israel, was released recently by the IDF, with the permission of her parents, Eyal and Sharon Eshel.

A true heroine, Roni maintains her composure, all the while knowing that sheer horror was racing straight towards her and her fellow soldiers.

These young women were undefended. Helpless. No commander was on the base. No armed soldiers were there to protect them. No one even responds to Roni’s increasingly desperate and panicked entreaties: “Confirm receipt of this message. Confirm receipt.”

Silence.

Listen to Roni’s voice, with English translation, below:

Translation: Maya Naftolin

In the days following the release of this gut-wrenching audio testimony, Roni’s parents made themselves available for multiple media events. State of Tel Aviv translated one short clip with Roni’s mother on Israel’s channel 12 (the most-watched television station in the country). Her pain rips through you as she explains the incomprehensible heartbreak of living with this tragedy.

Translation: Maya Naftolin

On March 22, State of Tel Aviv published a longer piece based upon an interview with Eyal Eshel.  He glows when he remembers his beautiful daughter. And in a moment. His face darkens when he recalls her dreadful premonition. As she left the family home on October 4 to return to her base, she told her father that a Hamas attack was imminent.

Of the 15 young women who were sacrificed on that dark day at the IDF Nahal Oz base, seven were taken hostage by Hamas. One, Noa Marciano, was murdered in captivity. Ori Megadish was rescued by the IDF. Five remain in the hands of the monsters.

Roni and eight other young women were murdered on October 7^th. You can read more about that harrowing day and the months since, here.

Just now, six months on, more and more information and testimonies are being published. In the weeks and months to come, I believe that we will begin to learn of the full extent of the horrors of October 7^th and its aftermath. State of Tel Aviv will be writing about this further in the coming week. Stay tuned.