Be'eri massacre

On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, around 70 Hamas militants[9][10][11] carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. At least 130 people were killed in the attack,[1] including women, children,[3] and infants,[12] claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. Dozens of homes were also burned down.[13] This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other massacres and military engagements in multiple neighbouring Israeli communities, including Netiv haAsara, Kfar Aza, and the Rei'm music festival massacre.[14]

Be'eri massacre
Part of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
One of the houses in Be'eri in the massacre's aftermath
Be'eri is located in the Gaza Strip
Be'eri
Be'eri
Site of the attack in Israel
Native nameהטבח בבארי
LocationBe'eri, Southern District, Israel
Coordinates31°25′26″N 34°29′23″E
Date7 October 2023 (2023-10-07)
Attack type
Mass shooting, mass murder, war crime
Deaths
VictimsHundreds missing[7]
Perpetrator Hamas (Nuseirat Battalion)[8]

Hostages were taken, leading to a stand-off with the Israel Defense Forces.[15][16][17]

Background

Kibbutz Be'eri is a veteran-established kibbutz located in the Gaza periphery since 1946. Its members are generally on the secular left, and it includes many peace activists (including Vivian Silver, who was on the board of directors of B'Tselem, currently presumed to be taken hostage).[18]

The kibbutz had around 1,200 residents before the attack, and was the largest village of the Eshkol Regional Council.[19][20]

Attack

The Hamas force targeting Be'eri consisted of militants belonging to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' Nuseirat Battalion led by Abed al Rahman.[8] On the morning of 7 October 2023, at 6:30 am, Hamas militants began firing rockets at the kibbutz. Another Palestinian militant group, the DFLP, later declared that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) were also fighting the IDF in Be'eri.[21] Around 70 militants[22] entered the kibbutz on motorcycles and in vehicles, and killed the security personnel at the entrance. After capturing the village, they started going from house to house, shooting or capturing the residents.[23] They also shot at buildings and set some on fire. The militants were accompanied by a camera team and journalist who documented the attack and extolled it as a Palestinian victory.[19] Many residents tried to hide in safe rooms, but the militants blew up the safe room doors and killed those inside.[24]

The militants took up to 50 people hostage in a dining room in Be'eri,[25] and kidnapped others, taking them the Gaza Strip.[19] When Israeli security forces counter-attacked, the militants holding the hostages were forced into a stand-off. Videos emerged showing the hostages being led barefoot across a street in town.[25]

Timeline
Israeli president Isaac Herzog in Be'eri, on 15 October 2023.

Using collected WhatsApp messages from a mother's group in the kibbutz and CCTV footage, a rough timeline was established. Hamas arrived at the gate of the kibbutz before 6:00 am, with the militants first executing the civilians in a vehicle.[26] By 7:10 am, the first messages on the WhatsApp group contained images of three motorbikes, each carrying two heavily armed Hamas militants leaving through the main gate. At 9:05 am, Hamas was seen dragging a corpse from the car that was destroyed at the kibbutz gate.

Tutorials on locking doors were shared on the WhatsApp group, but concerns were expressed over the shelters' inability to stop attackers.[26] Hamas attackers went around the neighborhoods, shooting and throwing grenades, massacring the occupants of each house and setting some on fire with Molotov cocktails. WhatsApp was used to advise occupants and share safehouses, but it also turned increasingly desperate as mentions of deaths of babies and family members surfaced.[26]

Two hours after the massacre began, twenty Israeli Air Force airmen from the elite Shaldag Unit arrived by helicopter at Kibbutz Be'eri. Five were killed and one was wounded by the militants within a very short time, many of them near "the iconic yellow gate of the kibbutz." The surviving airmen were forced to retreat and find other civilian areas with less resistance due to their now very small group.[6] A Israeli CH-53D helicopter was destroyed in the ground by Hamas militants hours after the attack at Be'eri kibutz.[27]

After around 12 hours, more IDF forces arrived and killed most of the militants. Some 18 hours after the stand-off began, the IDF reported the hostages had been freed.[25] However, security forces continued to sweep the village for Hamas holdouts.[19][28]

A destroyed kindergarten in the Kibbutz

The kibbutz suffered heavy losses of life and property, leaving it devastated and shattered.[29]

Yossi Landau, regional head of the relief organisation ZAKA, stated to Sky News that around 80% of the bodies at Be'eri and Kfar Aza showed signs of torture, and that he found "two piles of ten children each were tied to the back, burnt to death" at Be'eri.[30]

Survivors

A resident later told The Times of Israel that the kibbutz was "completely destroyed".[31]

Aftermath

On 24 October 2023, the IDF reportedly killed Abed al Rahman, deputy commander of the Nuseirat Battalion, who had led the Be'eri massacre.[8]

See also

References
  1. Shaulov, Roni; Zitun, Yoav (18 October 2023). "Charred remains of mother, son recovered 11 days after Hamas massacre". Ynet. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  2. https://people.com/israeli-family-of-10-kidnapped-by-hamas-exclusive-8358203 Archived 17 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  3. "Video shows apparent death of Israeli hostages in Hamas custody". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. "זעזוע בדרום: מעל 100 גופות נמצאו בקיבוץ בארי". Srugim (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  5. זיתון, יואב (9 October 2023). ""נלחמנו עם חצי כוח עד שנגמרו הכדורים": הקרבות ההירואיים של יחידת שלדג". Ynet. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023 – via www.ynet.co.il.
  6. Canaan Lidor (10 October 2023). "Testimonies from Be'eri massacre expose deep trauma predating Israel's creation". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. "Nightmare Phone Call Reveals Israeli Family of 10 Kidnapped by Hamas: 'Survival, That's Where We Are' (Exclusive)". 16 October 2023. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  8. "Israel kills three Hamas commanders, one who took part in massacre". The Jerusalem Post. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  9. Kierszenbaum, Quique (11 October 2023). "'It was a pogrom': Be'eri survivors on the horrific attack by Hamas terrorists". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  10. Amanda Macias; Sam Meredith; Ruxandra Iordache. "Israel-Hamas war live updates: 22 U.S. citizens confirmed dead; Israel to form emergency government". CNBC. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  11. Lidor, Canaan. "Kibbutz Be'eri bloodbath reminds Israelis of fears and fortitude from 1948". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  12. "עדויות תושבי העוטף ממתקפת הפתע על ישראל: «טובחים כאן בתינוקות»". Israel Hayom. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  13. Matan Tzuri; Roni Green Shaulov; Adam Kutub (9 October 2023). "'After a minute, my friend was murdered in front of me'". Ynet. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  14. "Hamas Leaves Trail of Terror in Israel". The New York Times. 10 October 2023. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  15. Federman, Josef; Adwan, Issam (7 October 2023). "Hamas says it is holding dozens of Israeli soldiers captured in surprise incursion". Jerusalem: AP News. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023. Hagari said militants were holding hostages in standoffs in two towns, Beeri and Ofakim, which is 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Gaza border.
  16. "CCTV Shows Hamas Militants' Attack on Kibbutz Be'eri". www.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  17. "Terrorists seize house in Ofakim, negotiations underway for hostages". The Jerusalem Post. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  18. Rabin, Roni Caryn (10 October 2023). "Peace Activists Are Among the Israelis Missing and Killed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  19. Canaan Lidor (8 October 2023). "Kibbutz Be'eri bloodbath reminds Israelis of fears and fortitude from 1948". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  20. Reed, John; Andringa, Peter; Clark, Dan; Joiner, Sam (12 October 2023). "Seventeen hours of terror: how Hamas invaded one Israeli community". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023.
  21. "Al-Qassam fighters engage IOF on seven fronts outside Gaza: Statement". Al Mayadeen English. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. "Israel's military says it fully controls communities on Gaza border". BBC News. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  23. Hadas Gold (9 October 2023). "Festivalgoers, children, soldiers: What we know about the people captured by Hamas". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  24. Israel, David (9 October 2023). "70 Terrorists Infiltrated Kibbutz Be'eri Overnight, IDF Repelling 7 New Penetrations". The Jewish Press. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  25. Davies, Alys (7 October 2023). "Hostage situations in Israeli towns". What we know about Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. BBC. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  26. "Hamas attack on Israel kibbutz Be'eri captured by mothers' WhatsApp group". BBC News. 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  27. "World Holds Its Breath As Israeli Assault Into Gaza Appears Imminent (Updated)". The Drive. 14 October 2023. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023. Additionally, there remains questions about what happened to an Israeli Air Force CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter seen burning near the border with Gaza. Reporting suggests the heavy lift helicopter, known locally as the "Yas'ur", was hit by enemy fire and made an emergency landing before coming under anti-tank guided missile fire on the ground. Exact details of the downing remain unconfirmed, however.
  28. Orlando Radice (7 October 2023). "Horrifying footage shows gunmen on kibbutz hunting for Israelis". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  29. Tzuri, Matan; Shaulov, Roni Green; Kutub, Adam (9 October 2023). "'After a minute, my friend was murdered in front of me'". Ynet. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  30. "Israel-Gaza war: Recovered bodies show 'bloodthirsty' gunmen 'took time over torture' - and that Hamas has changed". Sky News. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  31. "At least 100 killed on Kibbutz Be'eri alone — emergency group". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
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