The bodies of over 100 people were found in the Israeli Kibbutz Be’eri, which was under the full control of Hamas terrorists for over 17 hours. Another 200 victims, including 40 children, were found in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. These atrocities are compared to what the Russian occupiers did in Bucha – says the BBC’s Ukrainian section.
Israeli kibbutzim – cooperative farms – look like peaceful, green villages. It’s usually quiet there, and there are no fences between houses. However, due to their location in the border area, these farms are most vulnerable to attacks by Palestinian Hamas, which is why they are forced to take care of their own safety – recalled the Ukrainian section of the BBC.
Palestinian neighbors
Only 400 people live on Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The farm is close enough to the Gaza Strip that its residents can see their Palestinian neighbors hanging laundry in the yard. In between, in an area of 600 meters, there is a fence and a buffer zone.
The people of Nahal Oz are accustomed to living near territory controlled by Palestinian terrorists. They always knew that when the sirens sounded, they should run to the shelter. On the day of the Hamas attack, when the alarm went off, they sat in the shelter for a long time and gradually began to realize that help would not come, the BBC reported.
In the local kibbutz WhatsApp group, calls for help began to appear, the Israelis were asking to send the army, that Palestinians were in their homes, shooting people in the streets and taking hostages.
Israeli army on the premises of Kibbutz Be’eriMARTIN DIVISEK/PAP/EPA
Retired general Noam Tibon went from Tel Aviv to Nahal Oz to save the family of his son, Amir, a journalist of the Israeli daily “Haaretz”. Amir’s house was surrounded by Hamas fighters. Thanks to the help of his father, who brought a group of soldiers to the kibbutz, Amir and his family are alive. – The terms of the agreement between us and the state have always been clear: we protect the border and the state protects us, Tibon said after the action, adding that the State of Israel had not fulfilled its part of the agreement.
A 25-year-old at the head of a squad of survivors
The inhabitants of the quiet, picturesque Kibbutz Kfar Aza, located three kilometers from the Gaza Strip, were also not prepared to repel the Palestinian attack. In a farm with 700 inhabitants, the bodies of 200 people were found, including 40 children. Among the victims is a married couple of former Israeli army officers. The military had weapons in the house, hid the children and responded to the attack with fire. They died in front of the house, and the bodies of dead Palestinians lay nearby.
One of the few farms bordering the Gaza Strip that survived the Hamas offensive and whose inhabitants managed to evacuate is Kibbutz Nir Am, the BBC’s Ukrainian section reported. This happened thanks to, among others, 25-year-old Inbal Liebermanwho commanded the unit defending the settlement.
Lieberman was born and raised on a kibbutz, then served in combat units in the Israeli army and returned to her home community to become a security coordinator. This position is paid from the budget of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Inbal Lieberman’s task was to ensure the security of the kibbutz until the armed forces or police arrived.
Hamas attack on Israel PAP/Reuters – Maciej Zieliński
Prepared for Palestinian attacks
The BBC highlighted that residents of farms near the Gaza Strip were prepared for systematic rocket attacks by Palestinians: all houses had adequate rooms for hiding, and concrete shelters were easily found near open spaces and lawns.
But no one, in Kfar Az and Be’eri or anywhere in Israel, could have imagined that Hamas would be able to break through Israeli defenses, the BBC reported.
Main photo source: MARTIN DIVISEK/PAP/EPA