Be'eri Massacre
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On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
-led
October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...
on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a
massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...
at
Be'eri Be'eri () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert near the eastern border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . During the massacre in ...
, an Israeli
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
near the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. Hundreds of Gazan militants and civilian looters attacked the kibbutz, killing and abducting civilians while facing resistance from armed residents. Israeli security forces regained control by the evening of October 8. A total of 101 Israeli civilians and 31 security personnel were killed and 32 hostages were taken from the kibbutz. At least 100 Gazan militants were also killed and 18 were captured.Failure and slaughter: IDF's Be’eri probe shows army's colossal errors, residents’ bravery
Among the civilians killed were women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver), children, and one infant, claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. A total of 125 homes in the community were damaged or destroyed. This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other massacres and military engagements in multiple neighbouring Israeli communities, including
Netiv haAsara Netiv HaAsara () is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the north-west Negev, just at the northern border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The moshav ...
,
Kfar Aza Kfar Aza () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In , it had a population of . History The kibbutz was initially establis ...
, and the Rei'm music festival massacre. Several newspapers described the massacre as an act of
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
, with CNN describing it as "the symbol of Hamas’ brutality." A few early claims regarding the attack, including that twenty children had been burned to death with their hands bound, that a pregnant woman had had her belly sliced open and her fetus killed, and that two teenagers were raped, were later found to be untrue. Hostages were taken, leading to a stand-off with the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
. Relatives of some of those killed have demanded a probe into potential deaths of some of these hostages from
friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...
, including one incident in which an Israeli tank fired at a house full of hostages.


Background

Be'eri is a veteran-established
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
located in the Gaza periphery since 1946. Its members are generally on the secular left, and it includes many peace activists. The kibbutz had around 1,200 residents before the attack and was the largest village of the
Eshkol Regional Council Eshkol Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Ezorit Eshkol'') is a regional council in the north-western Negev, in Israel's Southern District. The regional council's territory lies midway between Ashkelon and Beersheba, bounded on the west by the Gaza St ...
.


Attack

The Hamas force targeting Be'eri consisted of militants belonging to the
al-Qassam Brigades Al-Qassam Brigades, also known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB; ), are the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his death on 13 July 2024, Al-Qassam Brigades are ...
' Nuseirat Battalion led by Abed al-Rahman. The PIJ participated in the attack, as did other armed groups. The DFLP claimed that its troops (organized as
National Resistance Brigades The National Resistance Brigades (), also known as Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Forces, () are the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which operates in Gaza and conducts guerilla warfare. Abu Khaled is one of its ...
) fought the IDF in Be'eri. The IDF probe into the massacre estimated that at the height of the massacre there were 340 attackers in Be'eri, including 120 members of Hamas' Nukhba unit, 70 additional Hamas fighters, and 150 members of the Islamic Jihad Movement, other armed factions, and Gazan civilian looters. The Hamas attack on southern Israel began at 6:30 AM. Amid a heavy rocket barrage, Hamas fighters broke through the border barrier into Israel, attacking civilian communities and military bases. The IDF's Paga outpost, located very close to the kibbutz and known internally in the IDF as the "Be'eri protector" outpost, was attacked. The soldiers there were forced to fight off the militants attacking their base and were unable to defend Be'eri. Other forces stationed in the area went to fight the attackers at kibbutz
Nahal Oz Nahal Oz (, ''lit.'' "Mighty Stream") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the juri ...
, leaving Be'eri unprotected. At 6:42 AM, Hamas fighters from the 2nd company of the Nuseirat Battalion crossed the border and headed towards Be'eri on motorcycles. The first of them reached Be’eri at 06:56, with the last members reaching the kibbutz at 7:20 AM. In the meantime, the Nuseirat Battalion's 1st and 3rd companies perpetrated the
Re'im music festival massacre On 7 October 2023, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political organization Hamas, initiated a October 7 attacks, sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part ...
and later headed towards
Netivot Netivot () is a city located in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, located 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of Sderot and 19 miles (31 kilometers) northwest of Beersheba. In , it had a population of . Currently seeing r ...
, but turned back en route after spotting an Israeli tank and per instructions given by Hamas commanders, joined the 2nd company in the attack on Be'eri hours after the attack began. Hamas fighters entered the kibbutz from two directions. The kibbutz's 13-member security team responded to the infiltration. Arik Kraunik, the head of the security team, spotted the first Hamas militants as they approached the main entrance of the kibbutz on motorcycles. He notified the IDF and residents, and instructed the other members of the security team to meet at the kibbutz armory, which had most of their assault rifles. Kraunik approached the main entrance as two militants breached it and was killed in an exchange of fire. The two militants then moved through the kibbutz towards the northwestern side where additional militants were streaming in, killing civilians and members of the security team along the way. Meanwhile, Ilan Weiss, the deputy commander of the security team who lived on the western side of the kibbutz, was killed by militants as he headed towards the armory. His body was seized and taken to Gaza. As only Kraunik and Weiss had the keys to the armory, the surviving members of the security team had no access to the arsenal of assault rifles. They had between them six
M16 The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine. In 1964, th ...
assault rifles and some pistols. The militants subsequently moved through the kibbutz, murdering civilians and setting homes on fire. The attackers shot and threw grenades, massacred the occupants of homes, and set some houses on fire with
Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...
s. They also abducted 32 people of whom 30 were kibbutz residents and two were civilians who had sought refuge there after fleeing the Re'im music festival massacre, taking them to the Gaza Strip. Videos emerged showing hostages being led barefoot across a street in town. The militants were accompanied by a camera team and journalist who documented the attack and extolled it as a Palestinian victory. The kibbutz security team and several other armed residents, including reserve IDF General Yossi Bachar, resisted the attack, preventing the militants from advancing to the center of the kibbutz. The IDF's investigation found that the resistance offered by the residents prevented a wider massacre from taking place. As the attack unfolded, residents barricaded themselves in their safe rooms. Those who were members of a mothers'
WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
group in the kibbutz kept in touch throughout the attack, trying to piece together what was going on. Tutorials on locking doors were shared on the WhatsApp group, but concerns were expressed over the shelters' inability to stop attackers. In one instance, a resident built a makeshift locking device out of ropes and a baseball bat and gripped it throughout the time he and his family spent in the safe room. WhatsApp was used to advise occupants and share safehouses, but it also turned increasingly desperate as mentions of deaths of family members and a dead baby surfaced. One 10-month-old baby is confirmed to have been killed during the attack, shot through the door of a safe room while held in the arms of her mother. In numerous instances, militants blew up the safe room doors and killed those inside. In one case, after walking in to a home and finding the 99 year old Anadad Eldan and his wife, they spared them. Eldan was the author of a noted poem on Gaza entitled 'Samson Tearing His Clothes.' At 9:03 AM, 13 commandos from the elite
Shaldag Unit Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag (, '' Kingfisher''), is one of the premier Israeli Air Force (IAF) Sayeret units. The unit is part of the 7th Special Air Forces Wing and is based in the Palmachim Airbase. The unit is led by an officer ...
of the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
arrived at Kibbutz Be'eri by helicopter. They would be the only IDF unit in Be'eri until about 1:30 PM. According to the IDF investigation, until that time there were 26 armed Israelis facing an estimated 340 attackers in the kibbutz. The Shaldag soldiers joined the fight alongside the residents. After one soldier was killed and another seriously wounded, the Shaldag team withdrew to the kibbutz entrance. The failure to continue fighting alongside the residents was later found by the IDF investigation to represent poor decision-making and a serious professional error. The Shaldag team repositioned itself at the entrance and killed several militants. They would later return to fight inside the kibbutz. Additional Shaldag forces later arrived. An Israeli CH-53D helicopter was destroyed on the ground by Hamas militants hours after the attack. At 11:30 AM, civilians from the Gaza Strip began entering Be'eri to loot. The Nuseirat Battalion's 1st and 3rd companies arrived in the kibbutz at 12:15 PM. According to the IDF investigation, all of the hostages captured in Be'eri had been taken by 1 PM. Additional abductions were attempted after that time but were unsuccessful. At 1:30 PM,
Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...
commandos, who had been delayed after encountering militants on Route 232 as they approached the kibbutz, arrived in Be'eri. The Shaldag and Sayeret Matkal forces subsequently pushed into the kibbutz from opposite sides to clear out militants and rescue civilians. Meanwhile, the 890th Battalion of the 35th Paratroopers Brigade arrived in Be'eri and began to sweep the kibbutz. More military and police forces arrived and joined the battle. At 4:15 PM, Brigadier General Barak Hiram, the commander of the
99th Infantry Division The 99th Infantry Division briefly existed, but never deployed, in the closing days of World War I, was reconstituted as a reserve unit in 1921, was ordered into active military service in 1942, and deployed overseas in 1944. The 99th landed at ...
who had been appointed to command the forces in the Be'eri sector by IDF Chief of Staff
Herzi Halevi Herzl "Herzi" Halevi (; born 17 December 1967) is a retired Israeli general who served as the Chief of the General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 16 January 2023 to 5 March 2025. He previously serv ...
hours earlier, arrived at the kibbutz. However, progress was hampered by a lack of coordination. The military investigation found that the lack of coordination led to large numbers of troops gathering outside the community and delaying their entry, with at times dozens of soldiers and police officers gathered in the parking lot awaiting instructions before joining the fight. Some troops were ordered to evacuate civilians instead of engage, others initially fought before withdrawing to evacuate wounded soldiers, and in some cases troops waited for their commanders to arrive before entering. Eight police officers were killed in an ambush by militants with RPGs as they drove around the kibbutz to reach its western side and join the fighting. In the evening, commanders briefed troops before sending them in to the kibbutz to avoid friendly fire incidents, causing a large buildup of forces outside the kibbutz. From 1:30 PM to 10:00 PM, Israeli forces advanced through the kibbutz and engaged in a series of gun battles with militants. According to the IDF investigation, the troops were careful not to open fire unless directly engaged in battle with militants, fearing the possibility of hitting civilians. Between 2:00 and 3:00 PM, the first civilians were evacuated, although most would be evacuated in the evening. At 5:00 PM, two tanks arrived in the kibbutz. Between 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM on October 8, IDF troops continued to evacuate civilians and search for militants, although there were fewer engagements. The only suspected incident of friendly fire between troops during the fighting occurred overnight. Searches continued into the following day until the kibbutz was declared secured. The IDF reported that they had killed dozens of militants and freed all the hostages in Be'eri within 18 hours of the initial attack, but 48 hours later were still sweeping the kibbutz for Hamas holdouts. There were a number of clashes in the area with some militants still hiding out over the following days.


Hostage stand-off

A prominent incident during the fighting was a stand-off at the home of Pessi Cohen. According to a reconstruction of events by
Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory Following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted on 27 May 2021 to set up a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate possible war crimes and other abuses committed in Israel and the Occupied P ...
, published in June 2024, at 12:56 PM, about 40 militants broke into the home of Pessi Cohen, killing a civilian and wounding another. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session56/a-hrc-56-crp-3.pdf Detailed findings on attacks carried out on and after 7 October 2023 in Israel A/HRC/56/CRP.3 United Nations 10 June 2024 pp.44-46 The house was then used to concentrate some 15 abducted Israelis. Six were held in the yard and nine inside the house, although according to the IDF investigation one of them was already dead. At around 3:00 PM, the Hamas commander, Hassan Hamduna, asked hostage Yasmin Porat, a survivor of the
Re'im music festival massacre On 7 October 2023, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political organization Hamas, initiated a October 7 attacks, sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part ...
who had sought shelter in Be'eri after fleeing the site of the festival, to contact the police and negotiate a safe conduit for the militants and their hostages to Gaza. Hamduna instructed her to falsely tell the police that there were 50 hostages in the house. At 3:08 PM, the first call was made to police regarding hostages being held in Be'eri. Due to a miscommunication, the report was forwarded to troops on the scene as a hostage situation in the kibbutz dining hall. At 3:59 PM, one of the militants in the house called his superiors in Gaza and told them that the IDF had arrived. Meanwhile, militants in the house engaged forces from the
Yamam Yamam (), also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids ag ...
elite police commando unit with RPG and machine gun fire. The Yamam commandos responded by firing a shoulder-launched missile at the house. Shortly afterward, Israeli commanders realized that the hostages were being held at Cohen's house and not in the dining hall. The house was then surrounded. Israeli forces on the scene were not able to see the hostages in the yard. As the two tanks arrived at 5:00 PM, one of them headed for Cohen's house, crushing several Hamas pickup trucks that had apparently been intended to transport the hostages. Meanwhile, Hamduna, still in contact with the authorities by telephone, declared his desire to surrender. He eventually stripped and stepped outside, using Porat as a human shield. After being arrested, he agreed to hail the remaining militants on a loudspeaker and call on them to lay down their arms, but the standoff continued. Brigadier General Barak Hiram, who by that time had arrived in Be'eri but was not present at Cohen's house, gave approval to fire light tank shells near and at the building to pressure the militants inside to surrender. He was subsequently accused of ordering tank shells fired at the house "even at the cost of civilian casualties" but the IDF investigation cleared him. Four tank shells were fired in total.Investigation clears IDF general of wrongdoing in failed Oct. 7 hostage rescue
,
Jewish News Syndicate Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) is a news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics and news. While officially nonpartisan, compared to its older competitor, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS is considered to be ...
3 April 2024
Footage of two of the shells being fired was captured from a helicopter overhead.Hilo Glazer
'Who Is Barak Hiram, the IDF General Who Ordered Tank Fire on a Kibbutz Home With 13 Hostages Inside?, '
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
31 May 2024
At 5:33, Yamam and
Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...
commanders ordered the first tank shell fired. It struck the pathway leading to the home. At 6:00 PM, Hiram arrived at the house and spoke to the Yamam commander on the site, ordering that the stand-off be finished within 40 minutes as the sun was setting. After about 20 minutes, Hiram left to handle other incidents in the ongoing battle. At 6:26 PM, Hamas commanders in Gaza called the militants holed up in the house, ordering them to run away. One minute later, the second tank shell was fired at the pathway. At 6:32 PM, the militants in the house told their superiors in Gaza that they would fight to the death. Two minutes later, the third shell was fired at the pathway. The shell bounced off the ground and hit the house just above the doorway, killing hostage Adi Dagan and injuring his wife Hadas Dagan. At 6:57 PM, the fourth shell was fired, hitting the roof of the house. The probe found that this too was aimed at applying pressure on the militants and not at harming anyone inside. At 7:57 PM, a long burst of gunfire was heard, after which no sound was heard from the hostages. The commandos then entered the home, engaging in a gunbattle with the remaining militants. All but one of the hostages were killed, with Hadas Dagan being the only survivor. A total of 13 hostages in the house were killed, among them two 12-year-old twins, Liel and Yanai Hezroni, and their aunt, Ayala Hezroni. Liel Hezroni's body was so badly burned that it was only identified more than a month after the attack. Some of the hostages were slain by crossfire while in the garden. According to the investigations by the IDF Armored Corps and the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
, most of the hostages were killed by shots from
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
rifles and not by the tank shelling. Hiram was absolved of any wrong-doing. The IDF probe did not definitively establish a cause of death for the 13 hostages, but found that most were likely murdered by the militants.


Elhanan Team

At around 6:00 PM, two
Otniel Otniel () is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the southern Judaean Mountains, south of Hebron, it falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hevron Regional Council. In , it had a population of . Otniel is n ...
residents, Captain (res.) Elhanan Meir Kalmanson and his brother Menachem Kalmanson, arrived independently at Be'eri and were joined a short time later by their nephew, Itiel Zohar. Dubbed the Elhanan Team, they evacuated over 100 residents of the kibbutz for 15 hours using an IDF armored vehicle they had found abandoned on a roadside. Elhanan was subsequently killed in an encounter with a militant during mopping up operations on the morning of October 8. In this engagement, Lt. Col. Eli Ginsberg, former commander of the
LOTAR Lotar may refer to: * A hand-to-hand combat system related to Kapap * An alternative spelling for ''lutar'' (short for lute guitar) * The Gimbri of north Africa * Lotar, Iran, a village * Lotar (name) * LOTAR, a special forces unit in the Israel ...
unit, was also killed. He had retired from the military two weeks prior but joined the fight in Be'eri. In parallel, Staff Sergeant Ofek Russo, a medic in the
Shayetet 13 Shayetet 13 () is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret, reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence ...
naval commando unit, was killed while treating a wounded soldier. At a meeting between members of the kibbutz and the Kalmanson family after the Be'eri massacre, a letter from a kibbutz member was quoted about the Elchanan team's actions: "... Elchanan rescued us from the window of the shelter, while the house was burning ... after long hours of distress, he arrived like an angel and immediately instilled confidence in us. His face will remain etched in my heart forever ..."


Casualties and unverified reports in the fog of war

A total of 101 Israeli civilians were killed in the attack. In addition, 31 Israeli security personnel were killed, of whom 18 were IDF soldiers (with 5 commandos of the
Shaldag Unit Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag (, '' Kingfisher''), is one of the premier Israeli Air Force (IAF) Sayeret units. The unit is part of the 7th Special Air Forces Wing and is based in the Palmachim Airbase. The unit is led by an officer ...
among them), 5 were members of the kibbutz security team, and 8 were police officers. Many soldiers and civilians were also wounded. In addition, 32 Israeli civilians were abducted from Be'eri and taken to the Gaza Strip as hostages, of whom 30 were members of the kibbutz and two were civilians who had fled the
Re'im music festival massacre On 7 October 2023, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political organization Hamas, initiated a October 7 attacks, sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part ...
and were taken captive in the area. A total of 125 houses in Be'eri were damaged or destroyed. According to the IDF investigation, at least 100 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting and 18 were captured alive. The kibbutz suffered heavy losses of life and property. A resident later told ''
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...
'' that the kibbutz was "completely destroyed". Some hostages were held captive for two days, until Israeli forces moved in on 9 October. A resident who was away at the time when the attack began said Israeli forces only gained control on Monday night, after commanders in the field made difficult decisions – including shelling houses with their occupants inside, without knowing whether the hostages inside them were dead or alive.


Erroneous claims

Yossi Landau, regional head of the relief organisation
ZAKA ZAKA (, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , ) is a series of voluntary post-disaster response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central District due to geographic considerations). They are recognized by ...
, stated to Sky News that around 80% of the bodies at
Be'eri Be'eri () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert near the eastern border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . During the massacre in ...
and
Kfar Aza Kfar Aza () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In , it had a population of . History The kibbutz was initially establis ...
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. Haaretz later found the claim regarding the tied children was erroneous, because the list of the dead at Be'eri only includes 9 children, and there are no cases known from Be'eri or any of the surrounding communities of children from several families having been murdered together. In January 2024, Kibbutz Be'eri also pushed back against a senior IDF commander's claim that eight babies were killed in the kibbutz's communal nursery and that an Auschwitz survivor called Genia was among those murdered during the attack. A kibbutz spokesperson said: "Nearly one hundred people were murdered on Kibbutz Be'eri, and the community suffered hundreds of heartbreaking incidents on that Black Saturday and over the past months, especially regarding the hostages. However, incidents such as eight murdered babies and a murdered Holocaust survivor named Genia – did not happen." Survivors and first responders reported that some of the women from Be'eri suffered sexual violence during the attack. One highly publicized testimony, asserting that a pregnant woman had had her womb cut open and her fetus stabbed, was later shown to have been untrue; the kibbutz released a statement saying that "the story of the pregnant woman reported by Zaka is not relevant to Be'eri." Another case concerned teenage sisters murdered by Hamas and allegedly raped before being killed; a video taken by an Israeli soldier subsequently came to light contradicting an Israeli military paramedic's public testimony of what he found at the scene. A UN report published in March 2024 said the UN team was unable to confirm whether sexual violence took place in Be’eri. It stated that at least two Be’eri cases reported in the press were determined to be "unfounded", including one where a crime scene had been altered and bodies moved, but added that the team also "received credible information" about bodies found naked, bound or gagged in Be’eri and that "circumstantial evidence – notably the pattern of female victims found undressed and bound – may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence."


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. On 6 January 2024, the IDF and
Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...
announced that Ismail Siraj, the commander of the Nuseirat Battalion, and his new deputy Ahmed Wahaba, who had replaced Rahman, were killed in an airstrike. In January 2024 it was announced that based on estimates from the Tkuma Administration which is leading the rehabilitation and development of the affected kibbutzim and Gaza periphery, the cost of rebuilding the kibbutz would be around $80 million. An internal survey of kibbutz survivors and evacuees in early 2024 showed that a very small percentage - less than 1% - have indicated that they never want to return to the kibbutz. About 20% said that they would return the minute they were given the green light from officials, while the majority of respondents indicated that their decision would depend on various factors, mostly clustered around security in the kibbutz and relations between Israel and the Gaza Strip.


Accusations of friendly fire during attack

Of the 14 hostages held at the Pessi Cohen house, only two survived: Yasmin Porat and Hadas Dagan. Porat said in interviews that an Israeli tank fired on a house in which several dozen militants were holding 14 hostages, including the 12-year-old twins. Porat had been able to leave the house with one of the militants who, wishing to surrender, had spoken on the phone to Israeli police, according to Porat, and been told to undress and leave the house with her. He did so, using Porat as a human shield, and was arrested; Porat then informed Israeli police of the number of hostages and hostage-takers left in the house. The militants unsuccessfully demanded safe passage from the Israeli army and police in order to return to the Gaza Strip with the hostages. They placed roughly half the hostages, including Dagan and her husband, in the backyard, between the house and the Israeli troops. Dagan and her husband lay down beside the wall of the house. In an ensuing gun battle, at least two hostages and one of the hostage-takers died, according to Dagan. As dusk fell on October 7, an argument broke out between the
Yamam Yamam (), also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids ag ...
commander and division commander General Barak Hiram, according to ''The New York Times''; the Yamam commander believed more hostage-takers might surrender, but Hiram wanted the situation resolved by nightfall. After Hamas militants in the house fired a
rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
, Hiram ordered a tank commander to breach the house and the tank fired two shells. Of the 14 hostages left after Porat's departure, only Dagan survived the crossfire and shelling. Dagan said her husband was killed when shrapnel from the second tank shell entered his neck, severing an artery. Altogether, an IDF investigation later claimed, 12 of the 13 hostages were killed by Hamas before all the militants were killed. The ''Times'' report led to a public debate in Israel on the appropriateness of General Hiram's conduct. In January 2024, relatives of the victims delivered a letter to the military in which they said that "according to the evidence, the shooting of the tank was fatal and killed many hostages in addition to the terrorists" and demanded a "comprehensive and transparent probe into the decisions and actions that led to this tragic outcome". The families also prevented the demolition of the house in question, to enable an investigation to take place. ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'' asked the IDF in an editorial to disclose whether or not the decision to fire on the house was an application of Israel's controversial
Hannibal Directive The Hannibal Directive (), also translated as Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol, is the name of a controversial procedure used by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. According to one ver ...
. The results of an IDF probe published in July 2024 said that at 5:20 P.M., a decision was made to use tank fire. At 5:53, before Hiram's arrival, a
shaped charge A shaped charge, commonly also hollow charge if shaped with a cavity, is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ...
was fired by a tank and struck the path between two houses. At 6 P.M., Hiram arrived on the scene and approved tank fire, including shells, out of concern that the terrorists might manage to flee under the increasing cover of darkness. At 6:32 P.M., the terrorists said they intended to kill themselves. By 7 P.M., three further shells were fired, among them one aimed at the floor and one at the attic of the house. The IDF estimated shrapnel from those shells hit Adi Dagan, who was killed, and Hadas Dagan, who was wounded. The IDF concluded most hostages were killed by the terrorists rather than the shells. Be'eri residents responded by demanding a state commission of inquiry to look at all aspects of the IDF's actions in Be'eri that day.


Depiction in media

In November 2023, an exhibition about the massacre and the resulting damage was opened at the Haifa City Museum which includes photographs taken in the kibbutz after the attack and as well as collected items to show the scale of destruction. Also in November 2023, art and video works retrieved from the gallery in the kibbutz were removed and displayed at the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome as part of an exhibit entitled "Ninety-five percent heaven, five percent hell" as part of the cultural attaché of the Israeli Embassy in Italy. Landscapes of the kibbutz were created by resident Haran Keslo, and recovered from the kibbutz after the attack. They were displayed at the Haim Atar Ein Harod Art Center and had been created over between about 2020 and 2023.


See also

*
Re'im music festival massacre On 7 October 2023, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political organization Hamas, initiated a October 7 attacks, sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part ...
*
List of massacres in Israel This is a list of massacres that have occurred in Israel after the 1948 Palestine War. *For massacres that have occurred in Roman Judea prior to the establishment of the Roman province of Syria Palæstina, see List of massacres in Roman Jud ...
*
List of massacres during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war This is a list of notable engagements during the Gaza war, encompassing land, naval, and air engagements, covering events which took place or began during the October 7 attack and immediately afterwards, including Israel's declaration of war ...
*
Outline of the Gaza war The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Wikipedia articles available about the Gaza war. It is an evolving list. Top level articles * October 7 attacks * Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip (2023–pre ...
*
Palestinian political violence Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Pal ...
* Moshe Dayan's eulogy for Ro'i Rothberg


Notes

Note changes in later archive versions of the article
28 Oct.31 Oct.


References


External links

* Ruth Margalit
The Devastation of Be’eri
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
, 19 October 2023 {{Massacres or pogroms against Jews 2023 massacres of the Gaza war Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups 21st-century mass murder in Israel 2023 mass shootings in Asia Mass shootings in Israel October 2023 in Israel Mass kidnappings in the 2020s Be'eri October 7 attacks Massacres in Israel during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict