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 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. 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.