[ad_1] New images have shown a glimpse of the horrors faced by Israelis living in a kibbutz near the Gaza border, where more than 100 people were ki
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New images have shown a glimpse of the horrors faced by Israelis living in a kibbutz near the Gaza border, where more than 100 people were killed in an attack by Hamas militants.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) allowed reporters, including a Fox News crew, to visit Be’eri, a community located five kilometres from the Gaza border.
On Saturday, the community of 1,200 was overrun by Hamas terrorists who attacked with grenades, guns, and knives. The immediate retaliation from Israel has sent a shiver across the globe as analysts fear thousands more will die in the resulting war.
IDF soldiers immediately engaged in an eight-hour battle to force Hamas out of the kibbutz, going door-to-door to eliminate terrorists hiding inside Israeli homes.
The kibbutz was the last settlement to be freed from Hamas intruders as the terrorists bunkered down inside the ruins.
The site was not declared safe for outsiders until Tuesday after officials had removed the victims’ bodies.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst took viewers inside one of the bloodied homes, pointing out bullet holes and blood stains on the floors.
Some buildings showed signs of being hit by RPG rockets, with “beds covered in blood” found throughout the settlement.
“You can see the floors are stained with blood,” Yingst said.
“It was Saturday morning, around 7am, when militants stormed this village. You can see the weapons they brought with them, extra ammunition, bullet holes in the side of the house and knives on the floor.
“It is completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings were hit with RPGs, explosives.”
Yingst described the scene as “hell on earth”, declaring it was the most horrifying experience he had encountered during his reporting career.
Reporters saw eight victims in body bags, some of which were local residents, and that officials were still struggling to accurately identify all the bodies.
“Some may be militants. They still have to work to identify the bodies. Some are hard to identify,” Yingst said.
“It is the most horrific thing I have ever seen.”
The commanding officer at the scene described the horrific conditions first responders had to face upon arrival, including finding families slaughtered in their beds and bomb shelters, as well as executions with decapitations, hands tied behind backs, and shootings.
Eerie signs of everyday life were left behind, with first responders finding food left on breakfast plates, family pictures and bicycles strewn across homes.
Weapons used by the militants were scattered throughout the area, with their vehicles still visible nearby.
“There are refrigerators like you would see anywhere in the world with pictures of little kids playing sports,” Yingst continued.
“There are bicycles and still ceiling fans going inside the house and there are beds soaked with blood. The floor of that kitchen, as you saw, and there are weapons laying everywhere from those militants. You can see some of their vehicles just outside.
“It is a house of horror behind me and the entire neighbourhood looks like this.”
Israel has now amassed forces, tanks and other heavy armour around Gaza after what leader Benjamin Netanyahu called “an attack whose savagery … we have not seen since the Holocaust”.
US President Joe Biden has pledged to send more munitions and military hardware to Israel, underscoring firm support for its ally in a conflict that has killed at least 22 US citizens.
But Biden has also called for restraint, telling Netanyahu it was “really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration … they operate by the rules of war”.
To Israel’s enemies, Biden issued a stern warning not to get involved, saying he “made it clear to the Iranians. Be careful”.
Israel appeared to be readying for a possible ground invasion of Gaza on Wednesday, but also faces the threat of a multi-front war after also coming under rocket attack from militant groups in neighbouring Lebanon and Syria.
A skirmish with Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon border on Wednesday underscored the severity of the situation as the entire region braces for more chaos.
On Wednesday evening, rocket sirens sounded across Israel’s north, as the army declared a suspected aerial “infiltration” from Lebanon. It later backtracked on the alert, blaming an “error”.
Heavy bombardments continue to rain relentlessly on Gaza, where at least 2,540 housing units have been levelled or rendered uninhabitable, according to the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
On Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said 1,200 people have died since Israel started airstrikes in the area.
The toll on both sides now stands at almost 2,500.
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