- Rachel and David Adari said they were held captive by Hamas militants in their home in Israel.
- Rachel Adari told Israel's Channel 12 that she offered the militants coffee and cookies to buy time.
On Saturday, five armed Hamas gunmen invaded Rachel and David Adari's home in the southern Israel town of Ofakim, the couple said, as part of large-scale surprise attacks that killed at least 800 people and resulted in hundreds of civilians and military personnel taken captive.
David Adari told Israel's Channel 12 News that the gunmen forced the couple upstairs and threatened to kill them.
"I said to my husband, if we will die, we will die together," Rachel Adari told the outlet in Hebrew.
She said she tried to buy some time in the hope that her son, a police officer, would help Israel's YAMAM counterterrorism force rescue them.
"I saw they were mad, and I asked them if they were hungry," she said. "I made them coffee and gave them cookies. They started singing [Israeli singer] Lior Narkis songs to me. I distracted them. I knew my son was helping the YAMAM and that they would come rescue me."
Israeli special forces killed the Hamas militants and freed Rachel and David Adari after they had been held for 15 hours.
"At 2:30 a.m., a grenade landed next to us, and I jumped on top of my wife," David Adari said. "Bullets flew over our heads. I have no idea how we survived."
Amid gruesome videos and accounts from survivors of the carnage, Rachel Adari has become a national hero for her unconventional tactics, spawning memes celebrating her courage — and her cookies.
"On Google Maps they already rated "Rachel's Cafe" in Ofakim: great service, awesome coffee. Hot and fresh cakes. Nice and warm woman. 10/10," X user @Amimezzz posted on Sunday.
After sustaining the most devastating attack on the country for decades, Israel has retaliated with missile strikes in Gaza that have killed more than 550 people as of Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.