Israeli woman escapes death by serving Hamas gunmen tea and biscuits in 20-hour ordeal

Rather than panicking when she found gun-toting Hamas militants in her living room, a 65-year-old Israeli woman made them tea and biscuits.

In a 20-hour ordeal, Rachel Edri calmed the gunmen and sang songs with them, before police eventually stormed in and shot them dead.

Ms Edri was returning from a bomb shelter in her hometown of Ofakim, southern Israel, when she found the men in her home. One struck her across the face with his gun, but she soothed him.

"One of the terrorists said to me: ‘You remind me of my mother'," recounted Ms Edri.

"I told him: ‘I am really like your mother. I will help you, I will take care of you. What do you need?’”

She served her attackers canned pineapple, tea and her signature Moroccan cookies. 

When she offered them Coke Zero, the men said they prefer the original Coca Cola, which she brought to them.

Ms Edri said she sung the men songs in Arabic and they responded by singing Hebrew ones.

“After they drank and ate, they became much calmer,” she said.

“I started having conversations, and at one point I even forgot for a moment that they were terrorists.”

Ms Edri was eventually rescued thanks to her son, Eviatar, a local policeman. He gave a rescue team a sketch of the house, helping them take the militants by surprise and shoot them dead.

Her ordeal and survival instinct has turned the her into an unlikely folk hero in Israel.

National media have branded her as the exemplary Jewish mother, making sure her guests are fed and extending hospitality in the most unlikely of circumstances.

On Wednesday, she was invited to meet US President Joe Biden during his visit to Israel and was pictured beaming and hugging him.

Ms Edri's brother, Shimon Koram, said he was not surprised when he heard of her ingenuity in the face of death.

He said his sister was known for her hospitality and generosity, working at a nearby military base cooking meals for soldiers.

The two were raised in a working class family of 12.

“We learned to survive and acquired the wisdom of life like street cats,” Mr Koram said. “You can see that in how she acted. ”

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