Survivors give firsthand account of horrors they saw during deadly Hamas attack

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Los Angeles area synagogue over the weekend hosted two survivors who experienced the unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas on Israel last month.

Batia Holim and her daughter Rotem say they didn't expect to survive after Hamas launched the deadly attack on Oct. 7.

Their homes are in a kibbutz in Israel, very close to the Gaza border.

Batia said Hamas overran the kibbutz and were shooting into houses. She said she hid in a safe room with her husband. The militants didn't enter her home.

Rotem had taken her 5-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son into the safe room of her home after hearing missiles and gunfire. Then she heard something even more frightening - the militants breaking in. She said they shot once into the safe room.

The men spent two hours searching the house before leaving with her phone and car keys. She said she was rescued the next day - 32 hours after the attack began.

Both women shared their harrowing stories during an evening of remembrance at the Young Israel of North Beverly Hills synagogue on Sunday. The synagogue displayed an installation with photos of many of the 1,400 people killed in the attack.

"We want people to realize that this is real," said Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills synagogue. "That the destruction of the Jewish people is something we take very seriously."