‘They Were Happy Killing People and Children’: A Survivor Describes Hamas Massacre in Kibbutz Be'eri Near Gaza

They picked up children first, killed them; when the parents came running, they killed them too. Those who didn’t leave their house, the Hamas terrorists entered their home and killed them. It took the Israel Defence Forces almost three days to clear the area where they only found dead bodies, bloodstains on toys, wheelchairs, bullets and their marks all over the small colony.

Even after eight months of the Gaza war began, the smell of gunpowder from charred houses is quite strong and bullet marks are visible quite enough to explain the story of Kibbutz Be’eri massacre.

Out of the 1,200 residents, who were living in Kibbutz Be’eri for the last 77 years, 90% have fled the area. Now, less than 100 people are living there.

Kibbutz Be’eri is a veteran-established kibbutz located in the Gaza periphery since 1946. The kibbutz had around 1,200 residents before the attack and was the largest village of the Eshkol Regional Council.

The area saw the first the brutality by Hamas terrorists who crossed the heavy border fence and started targeting a colony, killing families one by one.

Despite the houses being built with heavy iron metal and sturdy entrance gates and safe residential places around, the Hamas terrorists managed to kill over 100 civilians.

Nili Bar Sinai, a 73-year-old resident, is among the few people who managed to escape the Hamas atrocity on October 7 in Kibbutz Be’eri, but lost her entire family in the massacre.

Nili often cries when describing the atrocity by the Hamas but says bravely, “I will stay here till my death. What maximum can they do now? They can kill me, will that make them happy? I am ready for that, but I will not leave this place. I have lost my husband, family here in different incidents. But now I am the guardian especially after the October 7 massacre.”

She described the rampage by Hamas as a “fun activity” who were “happy killing people and children”. “It seemed that some of them were drugged as they were having fun in killing people. They left nobody; killed everyone and moved to other part of the area,” she added.

The colony, which is situated in the northern part of Israel, is a well-planned infrastructure. It had kindergarten and residential houses with all the facilities.

Nili said the Hamas terrorists targeted the children first, then eliminated their families and built houses closer to the border as their base. They were heavily armed and used grenades to burn the houses.

She described how a family of 15 tried to save themselves when the attack took place. The family members including children and senior citizens locked the door from the inside and a male member jumped from the window to move to another house along with the children. He managed to save all the children and a daring neighbour opened the door for them when the bullets were being fired by the Hamas terrorists.