More than 100 bodies found in Israeli kibbutz Be’eri after Hamas attack

CNN :

More than 100 bodies have been found in the Israeli kibbutz Be’eri, as details gradually emerge of the horror that unfolded as Palestinian Hamas militants launched their deadly surprise attack.

Be’eri, a self-sustaining farming community of 1,000 residents near Gaza, was one of first places targeted by militants who breached the border early Saturday morning, and among the hardest hit.

Civilians were killed and taken hostage, 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 wall between Gaza and Israel, videos show.

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.

Terrified residents told Israel’s Channel 12 television station that assailants went door to door, trying to break into their homes.

Of the 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.

Traditionally agrarian, the kibbutzim (plural for kibbutz) were popular in the country’s early years, founded on ideals of communal living and agriculture. About 125,000 people live on them today, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel, and there are approximately 250 kibbutzim across Israel.

The IDF acknowledged on Monday that Be’eri was “very badly hit.”