“They came to murder.” Ron Bahat, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz who was attacked by Hamas on October 7, can barely contain his emotions. Here, on the edge of the Gaza Strip, death still threatens.
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Desolation is everywhere. The houses are charred. Life has gone up in smoke. On Thursday, Mr. Bahat, 57, came to the scene to assess the extent of the disaster left behind by fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement.
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“taking life”
He points to a house: the remains of furniture and household appliances, as well as the remains of a woman and her grandson, were found in the rubble, he says.
“They had sought refuge in the animal shelter. There was blood everywhere,” he said. “They came to murder. They came to take lives,” he repeats.
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Nearly 200 Hamas members armed with automatic rifles entered the collectivist farming village by entering through three gaps in the fence.
Community leaders estimate about a quarter of the 400 residents have been killed, kidnapped or are missing.
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Once lush lawns
At dawn on Saturday, October 7, men from the Palestinian Islamist movement unexpectedly entered this previously peaceful place, where houses stood on previously green lawns lined with flowers and eucalyptus.
According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people, the vast majority civilians, have been killed and 203 others taken hostage since the war between Israel and Hamas began 13 days ago following the Islamist movement’s attack on Israeli soil.
Ron Bahat admits that it is difficult to obtain accurate death toll figures. Today, bodies are still being discovered while others await identification, an operation complicated by the condition of the bodies.
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Ron Bahat was saved by keeping the door of the shelter where he was staying with his family closed for eight and a half hours, despite repeated attempts by Hamas militants to break down the door. However, they did not use grenades or explosives to break in as they had done in other houses, he said.
“Nir Oz was one of the best places to live,” says Mr Bahat.
AFP was able to visit the kibbutz thanks to access organized by the Israeli army, one of the first trips authorized for the media to the scene of the tragedy.
Almost two weeks after that bloody day, the signs of the attack are still fresh. Laundry still hangs on ropes and children’s bicycles are thrown to the ground in the gardens next to the burned houses.
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Nir Oz security chief Shachar Butler, 40, was one of the few who returned to the kibbutz on Thursday to bury a close friend.
“It’s unimaginable,” he sighs. He says after an alarm went off, he saw more than a dozen gunmen enter his yard and throw grenades at his house.
“I shot him”
“Every time someone tried to touch my window, I shot them,” he remembers. “The people who came out were kidnapped, killed, executed, massacred.”
All survivors from the kibbutz were evacuated after the attack.
The Israeli army has now taken up position in the village, just a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas and continues to come under fire in Israel’s retaliation.
Hamas officials estimate that more than 3,700 Palestinians have been killed in bombings in the small area, home to 2.4 million Palestinians and which has been under a complete siege since the start of the war.
As the army prepares for a possible ground operation in the Gaza Strip, local residents admit it is difficult to imagine how common ground can be found in the future.
“We walked in our fields, tilled them and hoped that maybe one day there would be a peaceful solution.” That is now impossible, there has been “a 180-degree turn,” he says. In the distance we can hear the explosions of air strikes, mortar fire and gunfire.