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Bedouin Bus Driver Saved 30 People from Hamas Massacre
(JTA) Deborah Danan - On Oct. 7, Youssef Ziadna, 47, an Arab Bedouin from the Israeli city of Rahat, rescued 30 Jewish Israelis from the massacre at the outdoor party near Re'im, dodging bullets and veering off-road to bring them to safety. Ziadna had driven 9 Israelis from the town of Omer to the rave at Kibbutz Re'im. At 6 a.m. on Oct. 7 he received a call for help from them and raced to the scene of the party, where an inferno of bodies, blood and bullets reigned. 24 additional people crammed into the 14-seat minibus, and on the way, they rescued another couple. Ziadna says he also caught sight of a motorized Hamas paraglider hovering above, spraying bullets with a machine gun. Under constant gunfire, the minibus sped away. Ziadna's intimate knowledge of the terrain proved lifesaving, and he was able to cut a route through dirt roads, avoiding the main thoroughfare where terrorists were ambushing escapees. Many other cars followed his vehicle. Ziadna is grieving a cousin who was murdered during the attack and worrying about four other family members who remain missing.