{"id":162883,"date":"2025-12-01T19:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162883\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T19:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:59:10","slug":"ex-kibbutz-security-chief-who-fought-off-hamas-on-oct-7-opens-coffee-stand-near-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162883\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-kibbutz security chief who fought off Hamas on Oct. 7 opens coffee stand near Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rony Sfedj spent 12 years safeguarding Kibbutz Kissufim<\/a>, first as deputy security coordinator and later as head of the alert squad. On October 7<\/a>, he faced his greatest test, defending his home and family from Hamas terrorists for hours in a brutal, close-range standoff.<\/p>\n

Now, two years later, the 54-year-old has chosen a different kind of frontline: a peaceful roadside coffee cart named Bis BaTzad (A Bite on the Side), set up at the Re’im Junction near the Gaza border. \u201cI wanted to do something that would help the region,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a meeting point for soldiers returning from Gaza and for bereaved families. It\u2019s a space of quiet and strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sefdj recalled the harrowing morning of the Hamas massacre. \u201cAt 6:20 a.m. I was about to head to the chicken coop when the rocket alert sounded,\u201d he said. \u201cSeconds later I heard gunfire and shouting. I grabbed my weapon and started shooting from the doorway. They shot back.\u201d<\/p>\n

As terrorists approached his home, he gathered his family into the saferoom, continued returning fire from the kitchen window, and later narrowly escaped injury when a grenade was thrown into the house. \u201cI was hit by shrapnel. I knew they were coming to clear the house. I crawled into the shelter and shut the door just as they entered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"yk14597561\"<\/a>\"yk14597561\"<\/p>\n

The Bis BaTzad coffee stand <\/p>\n

(Photo: Tomer Shunem Halevi)<\/p>\n

For hours, Sefdj fought to keep the door closed while terrorists tried to force their way in. \u201cThey fired through the door. A bullet hit the ceiling and landed on my child\u2019s bed,\u201d he said. One of the attackers even sat outside the safe room for hours, testing their alertness.<\/p>\n

His close friend Saar Margolis and another responder, Adam Agmon, were killed trying to rescue him. \u201cThey took the best of us,\u201d Sefdj said.<\/p>\n

Now evacuated to the town of Omer with his community, Sefdj is focused on rebuilding. \u201cWe\u2019ll return to the kibbutz. That\u2019s the spirit here\u2014people plowing fields even during war. That\u2019s our DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bis BaTzad serves hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, pastries and more, and is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rony Sfedj spent 12 years safeguarding Kibbutz Kissufim, first as deputy security coordinator and later as head of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-162883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}