OCT 7: The War Against Hamas Through the Eyes of an Israeli Commando Officer

by Capt. Elkana (Kuno) Cohen

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Israelis awoke to a harrowing reality. Not only were hundreds of rockets being launched from Gaza into Israeli population centers, but the security border between Gaza and Israel had also been breached by several thousand Hamas terrorists.

Carnage, not seen since the Second World War, ensued. Elkana Cohen, Captain of an Elite Commando Unit was called, along with thousands of other reservists, to prepare for war. One that will have to ensure nothing less than Israel’s survival.

In notebooks he found on the ground in the streets of Gaza, Cohen began writing a diary.

Every day, he candidly documented the sights of the war. From an honest, precise and fluid first-person perspective, Cohen presents the feeling and story of the war from the eyes of the heroes who were there: the dust, the sweat, the brotherhood, the longing, and the awful smell of death and destruction. Cohen’s writing poignantly describes his relationships with his fellow comrades, the mass arrests of terrorists, the homes of Hamas members, the story of the fallen soldiers, and the desperate hope to bring the hundreds of Israeli hostages home.

Why did the prisoner from Jabaliya reveal to IDF soldiers that he had millions of shekels hidden in his house?

What's on the Hamas terrorists’ GoPro cameras?

Why did the author feel sick every time he ate meat?

How did the soldiers behave when the terrorist they were following went up to the roof of a building with a baby in his arms?

OCT 7 is not only the story of one Israeli officer, but it is also the narrative of an entire nation. A nation that stepped up without a moment's hesitation to face an existential challenge with a sense of purpose and mission.