Sergeant First Class Sagi Abitbul was one of the police officers keeping watch over the nature party at Re’im. A short while after he arrived for the morning shift, he received a report of terrorist gunfire and of injuries. Abitbul drove to Route 234, between Kibbutz Urim and Kibbutz Re’im, accompanied by Staff Sergeant Alyona Astapenko of blessed memory and a third police officer. Their cars came upon another car with people inside, who were wounded by gunfire, and the third officer drove off to arrange for help. But seven terrorists then arrived, in two jeeps, and opened fire at the police and at the wounded people. Sgt. 1st Class Abitbul managed to avoid the bullets, but Staff Sgt. Alyona Astapenko was killed.
The terrorists had begun to loot the car when attack helicopters arrived and opened fire at them. The terrorists fled, and under cover of the helicopter fire Sgt. 1st Class Abitbul was able to sidle into the road and warn Israeli vehicles not to drive onward toward the scene of the slaughter. He directed them to a service station in the Urim area, where they hid and where Abitbul joined in treating the injured, who kept arriving there from the direction of the party. Eventually, the people at the station could be evacuated to safety and Abitbul proceeded onward to join the forces fighting at Kibbutz Ofakim.
