Since Saturday and the start of the Hamas attack in Israel, revelations about executions and hostage-takings have continued to grow harder to see and hear. But with the attack on the kibbutz of Kfar Aza, two kilometers from the Gaza Strip, a milestone of horror appears to have been reached. Civilians massacred next to the remains of children, traumatized soldiers… What happened in Kfar Aza? Who were the civilians killed on this kibbutz? 20 minutes takes stock.
What happened ?
The lightning attack turned into a bloodbath. The farming community of Kfar Aza, two kilometers from the Gaza Strip, was hit by a bloodbath on Saturday. According to Israeli soldiers who came to liberate the kibbutz, Hamas fighters killed more than 100 civilians there.
Hamas soldiers attacked the community and set fire to houses to evict residents. “But many preferred to die in the fire, perhaps poisoned by smoke, than to be killed by the terrorists,” said Omer Barak, a 24-year-old Israeli officer. We found many bodies in the houses. »
Some residents fled to white bomb shelters. “The terrorists threw grenades inside. Nobody survived,” sighs Itai Veruv, retired major general. Three days after the tragedy, the kibbutz is nothing more than a field of devastation, where the lifeless bodies of Hamas fighters lie next to the corpses of children before being stuffed into body bags. A journalist from the i24 channel called the number “40 babies killed”. However, as Checknews points out, the figure appears to come from a single source and has not been officially announced, so it is not reliable.
“Clarification: I was in Kfar Aza yesterday. Nobody told me about beheadings, even less about beheaded children, even less about 40 children beheaded,” commented the journalist on X (ex-Twitter). Samuel Forey (Le Monde, Le Soir, Médiapart) after interviewing two rescue workers who collected bodies.
Who were the civilians killed on the kibbutz?
The residents of Kfar Aza had settled in this community either out of ideology, to maintain an Israeli presence very close to the Palestinian enclave, or to benefit from a cheaper cost of living than elsewhere.
Some relatives of the victims still hoped to find their families alive, searching frantically and asking passers-by. “His phone is here. I know that at the time of the Hamas attack he was sitting in the car with a friend and trying to escape,” says a father about his son on RTL.
How did the Israeli army react?
The military’s first mission was to liberate the farming community from “70 armed and trained terrorists” who attacked around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Gen. Itai Veruv said. On the night of Monday to Tuesday, Israeli soldiers managed to clear the crime scene.
But the trauma is heavy for the soldiers, who are shocked by the discovery of the kibbutz. “As we removed the bodies of civilians and children, I thought of General Eisenhower after he saw the death camps in Europe,” commented Itai Veruv.
“So far I don’t believe what I see. “Usually these are images brought from Ukraine or caused by the Islamic State,” said another reservist. “I wanted peace. This is the only solution, explains a reservist, a business manager from Tel Aviv who has come to liberate the kibbutz. But you can’t make peace with Hamas.” General Veruv, acknowledging that the army had not thought that Hamas could attack civilians, threatens and promises. “ [Le Hamas], they will pay for it. »