Superintendent Shifra Buchris, commander of the Border Police southern reconnaissance patrol unit and a mother of ten, set out to save partiers at the Nova rave even before receiving formal orders. Together with her deputy commander Ram Amrani, Sergeant Major Baruch Avisahal and Warrant Officer Yaniv Cohen, she rushed to the rave at Re’im to save as many of the revelers as possible. Over the course of 12 hours, they extracted dozens of wounded and injured in two private, unprotected vehicles, while the bullets whizzed overhead. In her testimony, Buchris noted that some of the injured saved themselves by hiding in the bushes or playing dead. During the search and rescue operation, they encountered a squad of 11 terrorists trying to hide and handed them over to the army. During the rescues, they saw their fellow police officers who had fallen in the battles, but pressed on, undeterred. “We aren’t heroes; we were just doing our duty,” they said.
