02:35 - Source: CNN
'They cut heads off people': IDF major general describes aftermath of Hamas attack
Kfar Aza, Israel
CNN
—
Bodies of Israeli residents and Hamas attackers lay outside burned-out homes in the Israeli kibbutz Kfar Aza on Tuesday, days after the Palestinian militant group launched a large-scale surprise assault on Israel.
Hamas sent waves of heavily armed fighters pouring across the border from Gaza and rampaging through rural communities – Israel said it found 1,500 bodies of militants in the aftermath of the assault.
Houses in Kfar Aza were ransacked and set ablaze. Overturned mattresses, destroyed furniture, broken trinkets and unexploded grenades lay strewn across the grounds, along with bodies – a window into the scale of devastation wrought by Hamas in this area.
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“I’ve never seen anything like this in my career, never in 40 years of service this something I never imagined,” Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv told CNN on Tuesday, just a few hours after Israeli troops secured the kibbutz from Hamas assailants.
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In Kfar Aza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was going house to house, collecting the dead in body bags and loading them onto a truck. The IDF told CNN that women, children, toddlers and elderly were “brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action.”
Hamas has denied that its militants beheaded children or attacked women. The militant group’s spokesman and senior official Izzat al-Risheq on Wednesday described the accusation as “fabricated and baseless allegations.”
Kfar Aza is one of the several kibbutzim, small farming enclaves, that bore the brunt of Hamas’ ground assault on Saturday. A number of kibbutzim and towns were targeted, including Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Ofakim, Sderot, Yad Mordechai, Yated, Kissufim and Urim. Revelers at a music festival held in the desert outside of Be’eri were also gunned down and taken hostage.
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Palestinians search for survivors following an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis, Gaza on November 3.
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Relatives attend the funeral of Albert Miles, 81, at the Kibbutz Revivim cemetery, south Israel, on October 30. Albert Miles was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, in Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with Gaza.
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Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on October 30.
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A man holds wounded children near livestock animals amid heavily damaged buildings, following Israeli attacks at Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Gaza City, on Sunday, October 29.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Manna mourns her daughter Tamar Chaya Torpiashvili, a 9-year-old girl who died days after experiencing a cardiac attack during a siren warning of incoming rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel, at her funeral in Ashdod, southern Israel, on October 29.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
An injured man is covered in dust in the aftermath of Israeli bombing in Rafah, southern Gaza, on October 29.
Abed Khaled/AP
Smoke and explosions are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza, amid Israel's bombardment of the enclave, on Saturday, October 28.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Israeli armored vehicles on the move near the border with Gaza, in Sderot, Israel on the morning of October 28.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinian children sit in a vehicle loaded with household items in Khan Younis refugee camp, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on October 28.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
People check the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al-Shatee camp in Gaza City on October 28.
Ammar Awad/Getty Images
A man writes a message during a demonstration by family members and supporters of hostages who are being held in Gaza after they were kidnapped from Israel by Hamas gunmen, as they call for a dialogue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 28.
Anas al-Shareef/Reuters
Palestinian lawyer Jehad Al-Kafarnah, whose pregnant wife and unborn child were killed in an Israeli strike, according to health officials, mourns over her shrouded body at a hospital in northern Gaza on Friday, October 27.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Teddy bears with their eyes covered and showing signs of injury are displayed to highlight the young children and babies currently missing, believed to be being held hostage by Hamas, on October 27 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Dima Vazinovich/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli firefighters and rescue teams assess destruction after a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 27.
Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
A Palestinian man injured in an Israeli airstrike is carried on a stretcher at Nasser Medical Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 27.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli air force F-15 tactical fighter jet flies along the border with Gaza near Sderot, Israel, on October 27.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
People take cover as rocket sirens sound during the funeral of Sagiv Ben Zvi in Holon, Israel, on Thursday, October 26.
Omar El-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke and fire rise from a leveled building after an Israeli strike on Gaza on October 26.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
A woman looks from behind a gate at the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 26.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza demonstrate in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 26.
Yasser Qudih/Reuters
A Palestinian child is assisted as people search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City on Wednesday, October 25.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards Gaza on October 25.
Francisco Seco/AP
A woman with a photograph of a child who was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel hands out yellow ribbons to passing drivers in central Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 25.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians mourn their loved ones killed in an Israeli strike, outside Najjar hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on October 24.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media after she was released by Hamas, outside Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 24.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Al Shifa hospital is lit up in Gaza City on October 24.
Ali Mohmoud/AP
Rescuers assist a survivor of an Israeli bombardment in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 24.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians look for survivors in the rubble after Israeli strikes in Rafah in southern Gaza on October 23.
Mai Yaghi/AFP/Getty Images
A baby receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on Monday, October 23.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Mourners hold hands during the funeral of Sgt. Yam Goldstein and her father, Nadav, in Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel, on October 23.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Israeli soldiers cry during the funeral of Sgt. Yam Goldstein and her father, Nadav, in Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel, on October 23.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier stands in an armored vehicle near the Lebanon border on October 23.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Khaled Joudeh mourns his young sister, Misq, at the morgue at Deir Al-Balah hospital in Gaza on October 22.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Pictures of over 1,000 people abducted, missing or killed in the Hamas attack are displayed on empty seats in the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 22.
Hatem Moussa/AP
Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 22.
Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu/Getty Images
Relatives mourn for a man killed by Hamas during his funeral in Nir Oz, Israel, on October 22.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
Injured civilians are recovered from the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli air strikes near a UNRWA school housing displaced people in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, October 21.
Francisco Seco/AP
A photo hangs on a refrigerator dotted with bullet holes in a home in Kibbutz Kissufim, Israel, on October 21.
Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters
An aerial view of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Zahra City, Gaza, on October 21.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images.
Relatives mourn for a family killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 21.
Belal al Sabbagh/AFP/Getty Images
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing on October 21.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Relatives of hostages speak to the media during the "Lighting up the Light" campaign for the return of those held captive, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Palestinians inspect a destroyed area following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on October 21.
Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua/Redux
Children use candles for lighting in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday, October 20.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday noon prayers as Israeli police look on in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20.
Janis Laizans/Reuters
Women grieve at an event for the families of Israelis who are missing or being held hostage in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 20.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
Civil defense teams and residents continue search and rescue efforts at a Greek Orthodox church after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 20.
Abed Khaled/AP
A Palestinian woman mourns over the bodies of her relatives who were killed an Israeli airstrike that hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City on October 20.
Mohammed Dahman/AP
Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel on Thursday, October 19.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets soldiers in a field near Israel's border with Gaza on October 19. Gallant told the soldiers, "You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside."
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Friends and relatives of Ofir Libstein, who served as head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council and died during the Kibbutz Kfar Aza attack, mourn at his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, on Wednesday, October 18.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu/Getty Images
A woman mourns over a dead man at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City on October 18.
Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
A Palestinian man inspects a destroyed house belonging to the Al-Jazzar family after an airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 18.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas are seen in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
People mourn a family during a funeral in Hod HaSharon, Israel, on October 18.
Ayal Margolin/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Israeli security inspects debris from a rocket in Kiryat Shmona, Israel, on October 18.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
From left, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden join Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials as they wait for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
A view shows the aftermath of a deadly blast that struck Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on October 18. Palestinian officials blamed ongoing Israeli airstrikes for the incident, while a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for a "failed rocket launch" that hit the hospital.
Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux
President Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Abed Khaled/AP
Wounded Palestinians sit on the floor at the Al-Shifa Hospital after being transported from the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital following a blast there on Tuesday, October 17.
Abed Khaled/AP
Bodies of Palestinians killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital lie in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 17.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Israeli security forces inspect a damaged residential building after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in Sderot, Israel on October 17.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
A bakery prepares rations of bread to pass out to displaced Palestinians in the Rafah refugee camp, in southern Gaza, on October 17.
Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP
People lay wreaths during a funeral for the Israeli Kutz family in Gan-Yavne, Israel on October 17. The family of five were murdered in their home by Palestinian militants who infiltrated the Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Aza last week.
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images
Civil defense members and residents conduct search and rescue operations amid destroyed buildings after an Israeli attack in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 17,
Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images
Aid supplies are seen in North Sinai, Egypt on October 16.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Street vendors work on a darkened street without power in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza on October 16.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
People hold Israeli flags as friends and family mourn Dor Reder at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, on October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, October 16.
Shir Torem/Reuters
People prepare to board a ship that will transport US nationals and their immediate family members from Haifa, Israel, to Cyprus on October 16.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
The remains of a Palestinian house destroyed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza on October 15.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
People carry children as they flee following an Israeli strike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, October 15.
Francisco Seco/AP
Antonio Macías' mother cries over her son's body at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, Israel, on October 15. Macías was killed by Hamas at an Israeli music festival earlier this month.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians collect water from a tap on October 15 after Israel blocked supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel to Gaza.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli army Puma armored personnel carriers move in a column near the Gaza border in southern Israel on October 14.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14.
Francisco Seco/AP
Eli Albag cries over the photograph of his daughter Liri, as he gathers with others during a protest demanding the release of more than 100 Israelis who were abducted during last week's Hamas attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 14.
Mohammed Talatene/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images
Leaflets dropped from Israeli army planes fall over Gaza City on Friday, October 13.
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
An Israeli soldier looks inside a house that was overrun by Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel, on October 13.
Hatem Ali/AP
Palestinians rescue a wounded man from the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 13.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Israeli artillery fires on the Israel-Gaza border on October 13.
Dor Kedmi/AP
Israelis take cover after hearing warning sirens of incoming rockets fired from Gaza in Rehovot, Israel, on October 13.
Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images
On October 13, doctors at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, examine children injured in Israeli attacks.
Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian child is injured during bombing in Gaza on October 13.
Hatem Moussa/AP
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to seek refuge in the south, on October 13.
Francisco Seco/AP
Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday, October 12.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers patrol near Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Family members of Valentin Ghnassia react during his funeral ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on October 12. Ghnassia was killed in a battle with Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier patrols near the Nova music festival grounds near Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli military helicopter flies near the border between Gaza and Sderot, Israel, on October 12.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times
Palestinians seek shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza, after a house next door was hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 12.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12.
Ibrahim Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12.
Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian woman covered in dust and dirt carries a child in Gaza City on October 12.
Baz Ratner/AP
An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, October 11.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11.
Abed Rahim Khatib/Picture-Alliance/Getty Images
People carry bodies of Palestinians killed during an Israeli airstrike prior to their burial in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Yahya Hassouna/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City on October 11.
Francisco Seco/AP
Mourners react beside the body of Mapal Adam during her funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 11.
Abed Zagout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Palestinians run from Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Israeli soldiers load donated food into the back of a military vehicle in Sderot, Israel, on October 11.
Baz Ratner/AP
Bullet holes are seen in a cracked window at the entrance of a kindergarten in Be'eri, Israel, on October 11. The self-sustaining farming community near Gaza was one of the first places targeted by Hamas militants on October 7.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
A mourner reacts while burying a child from the al-Agha family, who were killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Itzik and Miriam Shafir, center, mourn during their son's funeral at a cemetery in Modiin Maccabim, Israel, on October 11. Their son, Dor Shafir, and his girlfriend, Savion Kiper, were killed during Hamas' attack on a music festival on Saturday.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
A boy carries salvaged belongings from the wreckage of his family's home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10.
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
Israeli soldiers carry a body on October 10 in Kfar Aza, a village in Israel just across the border from Gaza. Hamas militants carried out a "massacre" in Kfar Aza during their attacks over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians mourn during the funeral of a relative killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on October 10.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
People mourn at the grave of Eden Guez during her funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 10. She was killed as she attended a music festival that was attacked by terrorists from Gaza. Israeli officials counted at least 260 bodies at the Nova Festival.
Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli airstrike on October 10.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Stranded travelers wait to be booked on a flight at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Israelis in Ashkelon take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10.
Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
Israelis mourn as they attend the funeral of Israel Defense Forces soldier Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem, on October 10.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A Palestinian man reacts as he carries the body of his cousin who was pulled from the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday, October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
A family takes shelter at a neighbor's house after their home was damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Children run for cover as bombs fall near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 9.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
People take shelter in Jerusalem on October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
The ruins of the Yassin mosque are seen in the Shati refugee camp just outside Gaza City on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Friends and relatives of Ilai Bar Sade mourn next to his grave during his funeral at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 9.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Six-month-old Sama Alwadia is rescued from the rubble in Gaza City on October 9. Though the child had survived the initial strike, she died later while being treated for her injuries.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Lightning strikes over Gaza City following an Israeli bombardment on October 9.
Oren Ziv/AP
Israeli soldiers take position near the border between Gaza and Israel on October 9.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his nephew killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 9.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israeli security and emergency officials respond after a rocket landed in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Ilit, in the occupied West Bank, on October 9.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on October 9.
Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP
Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9.
Ramez Mahmoud/AP
Palestinians remove a body from the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike on the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son's funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 9.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians inspect damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp on October 9.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
An injured Palestinian child is pictured in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Israelis view a damaged residential building in Ashkelon after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on October 9.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Tali Touito reacts as she describes how Hamas gunmen attacked and took over the police station on her street, in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday, October 8.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Fire and smoke rise from Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 8.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
A relative of an Israeli missing since the attacks is overcome by emotion during a press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on October 8.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians inspect a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 8.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona on October 8.
Oded Balilty/AP
Israelis inspect the rubble of a building in Tel Aviv on October 8, a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza on October 8.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians search the rubble of a home in Khan Younis that was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on October 8.
Ahmad Hasballah/Getty Images
Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
Rockets launched from Gaza are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system on October 8.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinian children look toward the sky at the sound of airstrikes at a United Nations-run school in Gaza on Saturday, October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
A woman runs to her family's reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
From the window of his family's apartment, a man surveys damage from a rocket that struck a parking lot in Ashkelon on October 7.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians gather around an Israeli army vehicle that Palestinian militants drove from Israel into Gaza on October 7.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
Palestinians break into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, after gunmen infiltrated parts of southern Israel on October 7.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon on October 7.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli police take cover in Ashkelon as sirens wail while rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel on October 7.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke rises over Gaza during Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
Baz Ratner/AP
An Israeli woman reacts over the body of her relative who was killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 7.
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Children are seen in a damaged house in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
Vehicles in Ashkelon burn as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A man in Ashkelon runs after rockets were launched from Gaza on October 7.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Israelis donate blood in Jerusalem on October 7.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinians inspect a destroyed building as emergency responders try to contain fires after Israeli jets bombed Gaza on October 7.
Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Outside of a hospital in Gaza, men sit next to the covered body of a Palestinian militant killed during Saturday's clashes.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Relatives of Palestinians killed on Saturday, October 7, mourn at the morgue of a hospital in Gaza.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP licensed
An Israeli soldier stands by the bodies of Israelis killed by Palestinian militants in Sderot on October 7.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A woman stands in a room damaged by rockets in Ashkelon on October 7.
Itai Ron/Reuters
A building in Tel Aviv is ablaze Saturday, October 7, following rocket attacks from Gaza.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Smoke rises as the clashes between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces continue on the streets of Beit Hanun in Gaza on October 7.
Hadas Parush/Reuters
People take cover in a bomb shelter in Rishon Lezion, Israel, as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza on October 7.
At least 1,200 people have died in Israel since the conflict erupted, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said in an update on Wednesday.
Israel has retaliated by pounding Gaza with a relentless aerial campaign that has flattened homes, schools, medical institutions and government buildings in the besieged strip.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,055, with a further 5,184 people injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
02:16 - Source: CNN
See the devastation in Gaza after Israeli strikes
‘Massacre’ in Kfar Aza
The kibbutzim go back to the time of the founding of Israel, when small groups of people set up communities based on the idea of communal living. About 125,000 people live across approximately 250 kibbutzim in Israel, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. For many, they were symbols of good life and safety.
What happened at the weekend destroyed that idyll.
Babies and toddlers were found “decapitated” in Kfar Aza, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday. CNN could not independently verify that report, and Hamas said media reports about attacking children were false.
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This comes after the IDF told CNN Tuesday that the killings at Kfar Aza amounted to a “massacre.”
Maj. Gen. Veruv said his soldiers spent “about 48 hours” fighting “waves and waves of terrorists” on roads and in neighboring communities. He said he had started fighting militants in the Yakhini moshav (community) on Saturday, moving then “from battle to battle,” on the road to Sderot, before reaaching the Be’eri kibbutz on Monday evening.
“I saw hundreds of terrorists in full armor, full gear, with all the equipment and all the ability to make a massacre, go from apartment to apartment, from room to room and kill babies, mothers, fathers in their bedrooms,” Veruv said.
Muhammad Darwish/CNN
A covered body is seen lying on the ground in Kfar Aza.
Veruv said he had been retired from the IDF for eight years before rushing to join the counter-offensive efforts on Saturday morning, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.
“I have heard during my childhood about the pogroms in Europe, the Holocaust, of course. All my family came from Europe, they are survivors. But I never thought I would see…things like that,” he said about the scene in Kfar Aza.
Be’eri
More than 100 bodies were found in Be’eri on Monday. Civilians were killed and taken hostage in the kibbutz, which is home to about 1,000 residents, according to Israeli authorities and videos obtained and authenticated by CNN.
Heavily armed militants arrived in Be’eri on motorbikes around 7 a.m., just half an hour after they breached the typically high-tech, tightly guarded border fence between Gaza and Israel, videos show.
Obtained by CNN
A screenshot from a video, geolocated by CNN, shows six Hamas militants arriving at Be'eri on Saturday morning local time.
A bloodbath followed.
Footage shows militants pulling three bodies out of a car, before stealing the vehicle and driving north. The video, which first surfaced on Telegram, was taken by a surveillance camera in Be’eri. CNN has geolocated the video to an intersection in the northeastern part of the kibbutz.
Another video shows armed militants taking five Israeli civilians captive, with the bodies of four later seen lying on the ground nearby in another video verified by CNN.
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Terrified residents told Israel’s Channel 12 television station that assailants went door to door, trying to break into their homes.
Of at least 107 bodies discovered in the aftermath, most were of local residents of the kibbutz, though some were of Israeli security forces, a search and rescue spokesperson told CNN.
The IDF acknowledged on Monday that Be’eri was “very badly hit.”
“We thought we would need more rooms (to house the evacuees). We didn’t need all the rooms,” said IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.
The attack on Be’eri came around the same time as Hamas militants descended upon a music festival, known as Nova, just three miles south, shooting revelers at point-blank range and looting their belongings.
More than 260 bodies were later found at the festival site, with many attendees believed to have been captured and brought to Gaza, sparking a desperate search by family members and foreign governments.
Urim
In Urim, a kibbutz 10 miles south of Be’eri, residents awoke at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday to the sound of sirens and rushed to above-ground bomb shelters. The routine reaction to incoming rocket fire soon became more concerning, as the sirens continued sounding throughout the morning and they went in and out of hiding.
Members of the community, which is not far from where militants rampaged the Nova music festival, began to see reports of Hamas attacks on kibbutzim and towns near the border.
Wayne Lucas, a Virginia native who serves as a “lone soldier” in the IDF and lives in Urim, said that he spoke to several friends “who were hiding in their houses from the terrorists,” and, as the day progressed, he heard of attacks closer to home.
“We learned that someone from our kibbutz who I know very well, whose family also hosts lone soldiers was shot at the junction outside our kibbutz near the gas station. Luckily, he was only shot in the hand,” he told CNN.
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There are over 7,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the IDF, according to the Lone Soldier Center, many new immigrants or volunteers from Jewish communities abroad.
On Sunday, after a restless night, residents in Urim heard gunshots close by.
“Shortly after 1:30 in the afternoon, we heard gunshots coming from inside the kibbutz. We all dropped everything. We ran as fast as we could to the shelters. We locked the doors, and we were barricading ourselves inside. People had knives and random things to use as weapons,” Lucas said.
All Israeli buildings erected after 1993 are required to have bomb shelters – reinforced rooms with concrete walls and heavy steel doors. But these safe rooms are designed to withstand a rocket attack, not an armed incursion. The doors are heavy, but they don’t have locks – they are not supposed to be lockable, for safety reasons.
Another soldier who lives in Urim said he heard gunfire but couldn’t make it to the shelter in time. “I heard a round of six bullets being shot right outside my room. I cannot tell you how scared I was. I didn’t know what I needed to do first: hide, lock my door, find a weapon, run to the nearest shelter?” the soldier, who asked not to be named, told CNN. “There was nowhere good to hide, and I ended up hiding in my closet.”
The soldier and Lucas said that when they were given the all-clear, an Israeli army unit was outside and had apprehended several militants who had tried to storm the kibbutz.
Nirim
In Nirim, which lies less than a mile from the border with Gaza, residents had spent Friday – the day before the Hamas attack – celebrating the anniversary of the kibbutz’s founding. Guy, a 33-year-old painter, said he could not believe the horrors that began the next morning.
When he heard the alarm at 6.30 a.m., he did not think much of it. “Usually, it stops and starts after a few minutes then we get on with life,” he told a CNN team on the ground. But this time was different: The alarm did not stop, and rumors began to swirl. “Rumors started in the kibbutz that someone saw a terrorist in a car and heard Arabic,” he said. “It didn’t seem possible. We didn’t think it was happening.”
He had been waiting in the shelter with his wife, Tamar, and her mother. Tamar’s sisters had come to the kibbutz for Friday’s celebration, along with their husbands and three young children, who had stayed the night in another house in the kibbutz.
Although most houses in the kibbutz have shelters, they are designed to protect civilians from rockets – not armed intruders. “It’s impossible to lock from the inside. No one imagined there will be terrorists inside the kibbutz,” Guy said. He spent the next several hours holding the door “with my hand, with a knife in my pocket.”
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“I was reading online: How can I fight with a knife?” he said. He had grabbed the only weapon he could find in his kitchen: “I could make a salad but I don’t think I could win against a gun.”
As he guarded the door, they heard gunshots and began to smell smoke. “Their strategy was to burn houses, to start fires so… people go outside,” he said. “Then they wanted to kill them or kidnap them.
“Finally, the military came at 7 p.m., something like that,” he said. Initially, they refused to open the door: They had been messaging others over WhatsApp all day, and had heard rumors “that the terrorists were also knocking on the door and saying they were military.”
He said his wife knew many people who had died. “They just slaughtered everyone. They killed kids, babies, grandmothers.”
Guy said everyone in the kibbutz was asking: “Where was our military?”
CNN’s Muhammad Darwish and Nic Robertson reported from Kfar Aza, Israel. Amir Tal reported from Jerusalem, Artemis Moshtaghian from New York and Ivana Kottasová from Tel Aviv. Christian Edwards wrote from London.
CNN’s Martin Goillandeau, Paul P. Murphy, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Kathleen Magramo and Ruba Alhenawi contributed reporting.