Be'eri massacre
2023 massacre in Israel / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas militants[9][10][11] carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
Be'eri massacre | |
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Part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel | |
Native name | הטבח בבארי |
Location | Be'eri, Southern District, Israel |
Coordinates | 31°25′26″N 34°29′23″E |
Date | 7 October 2023; 7 months ago (2023-10-07) |
Attack type | Mass shooting, mass murder, Arson, war crime |
Deaths | |
Victims | Hundreds missing[7] |
Perpetrator |
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Around 70 Hamas militants of the al-Qassam Brigades, Nuseirat Battalion, along with DFLP militants had attacked the kibbutz and at least 130 people were killed in the attack,[1] including women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver),[12] children,[3] toddlers, and one infant,[13][14][15][16] claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. Dozens of homes were also burned down.[17] This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other massacres and military engagements in multiple neighbouring Israeli communities, including Netiv haAsara, Kfar Aza, and the Rei'm music festival massacre.[18] Several newspapers described the massacre as an act of terrorism.[19][9][20][21][22]
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.[23]
Hostages were taken, leading to a stand-off with the Israel Defense Forces.[24][25] Relatives of some of those killed have demanded a probe into potential deaths of some of these hostages from friendly fire, including one incident in which an Israeli tank fired at a house full of hostages.[26][27][28]