A group of Israeli volunteers trains local defense teams to deal with security threats
Description: (4 Oct 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yesha, Israel – 4 October 2026
1. Man running with a fake weapon, and shouting in Hebrew “Fire” during a training simulation where people from the Yesha community are fighting militants on the street
2. Various of training
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Briggs, Co-founder of Magen 48:
“Megan 48 was founded to stop the next October 7th. The 48 is the 48 first responders, civilian first responders that were killed on October 7. And we said never again, and of course we've said it many times, but this time we were serious, and we said we're gonna train these rapid response teams who are civilians, that have day to day jobs, that never got training before October 7, now they should be fully trained, better trained.”
4. Various of training
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Briggs, Co-founder of Magen 48:
“The main reason was the communities were not coming home because the communities had no confidence that they would be protected again. And that confidence was returned when they saw their first responders, their rapid response team, who are civilians, actually training and actually learning and actually feel confident in themselves.”
6. Men wearing military costume during training
7. Tilt up from fake weapon to man talking on walkie talkie UPSOUND (Hebrew) “Are there any other events open here right now? Are there still any terrorists in the Moshav right now? “
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kobi Trabelsi, lives in a community along the Gaza border:
“I was there on the 7th of October, and there was nothing to fight with. We ran out and grabbed some stones. I ran to my garage, bring some knives to my kids, and tell them, okay, this is what we have, and we knew nothing. And we saw on the street, like, terrorists. We couldn't even take their guns because we didn't know what to do with them. It was so far away, our military. And then when Magen 48 came, suddenly it all raised up. They took us from step to step and showed us and learned us how to manage this very well.”
9. Various of training simulating injured men being treated and moved to ambulance
STORYLINE:
Following the Hamas attack on southern Israel three years ago, a group of Israeli volunteers have been training local defense teams in the hope that a similar attack will never happen again.
The group called Magen48 is run by Israelis with funding from organizations in the United States, including Jewish Americans.
Since inception after Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas and others stormed southern Israel killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, the group’s trained thousands of people in dozens of communities and kibbutzim across the country.
It focuses on emergency medical training and working as a unit to fend off attackers.
The violence three years ago caught the country off guard and some communities along the border with Gaza had to defend themselves, some of them for hours before the army arrived.
“I was there on the seventh of October and there was nothing to fight with. We ran out and grabbed some stones, I ran into my garage to bring some knives to give my kids and tell them ok this is what we have,” said Kobi Trabelsi who lives in a community along the Gaza border.
On Sunday, AP reporters witnessed a training simulation where people from the Yesha community fought militants on the street and treated the wounded.
On Oct. 7 the community of Yesha had few guns and a handful of locals who were killed trying to protect its people, said locals.
AP video by: Ami Ben Tov
===========================================================
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RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yesha, Israel – 4 October 2026
1. Man running with a fake weapon, and shouting in Hebrew “Fire” during a training simulation where people from the Yesha community are fighting militants on the street
2. Various of training
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Briggs, Co-founder of Magen 48:
“Megan 48 was founded to stop the next October 7th. The 48 is the 48 first responders, civilian first responders that were killed on October 7. And we said never again, and of course we've said it many times, but this time we were serious, and we said we're gonna train these rapid response teams who are civilians, that have day to day jobs, that never got training before October 7, now they should be fully trained, better trained.”
4. Various of training
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ari Briggs, Co-founder of Magen 48:
“The main reason was the communities were not coming home because the communities had no confidence that they would be protected again. And that confidence was returned when they saw their first responders, their rapid response team, who are civilians, actually training and actually learning and actually feel confident in themselves.”
6. Men wearing military costume during training
7. Tilt up from fake weapon to man talking on walkie talkie UPSOUND (Hebrew) “Are there any other events open here right now? Are there still any terrorists in the Moshav right now? “
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kobi Trabelsi, lives in a community along the Gaza border:
“I was there on the 7th of October, and there was nothing to fight with. We ran out and grabbed some stones. I ran to my garage, bring some knives to my kids, and tell them, okay, this is what we have, and we knew nothing. And we saw on the street, like, terrorists. We couldn't even take their guns because we didn't know what to do with them. It was so far away, our military. And then when Magen 48 came, suddenly it all raised up. They took us from step to step and showed us and learned us how to manage this very well.”
9. Various of training simulating injured men being treated and moved to ambulance
STORYLINE:
Following the Hamas attack on southern Israel three years ago, a group of Israeli volunteers have been training local defense teams in the hope that a similar attack will never happen again.
The group called Magen48 is run by Israelis with funding from organizations in the United States, including Jewish Americans.
Since inception after Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas and others stormed southern Israel killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, the group’s trained thousands of people in dozens of communities and kibbutzim across the country.
It focuses on emergency medical training and working as a unit to fend off attackers.
The violence three years ago caught the country off guard and some communities along the border with Gaza had to defend themselves, some of them for hours before the army arrived.
“I was there on the seventh of October and there was nothing to fight with. We ran out and grabbed some stones, I ran into my garage to bring some knives to give my kids and tell them ok this is what we have,” said Kobi Trabelsi who lives in a community along the Gaza border.
On Sunday, AP reporters witnessed a training simulation where people from the Yesha community fought militants on the street and treated the wounded.
On Oct. 7 the community of Yesha had few guns and a handful of locals who were killed trying to protect its people, said locals.
AP video by: Ami Ben Tov
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4e44c72400294de99e2fa024d599b132 Close description