Be'eri, Israel - “First we’ll go through this neighborhood and then to hell itself,” October 7 survivor Nili Bar-Sinai told me as we walked through the abandoned and quiet streets of Kibbutz Be’eri in Southern Israel Wednesday. “The disaster is gone, but it’s like looking at the bones.”
On October 6, 2023, the people of Kibbutz Be’eri celebrated 77 years of establishing their community with parties, laughing children and merriment. The next day that joy turned to horror as Hamas terrorists stormed their streets, rampaging through homes with bombs, guns, and fire — murdering dozens of civilians. Many years ago members here walked back and forth through the fields, to and from Gaza. Today their neighbors, peace activists, are held hostage there.
It’s been more than 200 days since the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas stormed across the border from Gaza and into Israel, committing the worst terrorist attack the country has ever seen. In this community, more than 70 people were killed. In the kibbutzim around them and the NOVA music festival down the way, where young people danced with their friends, thousands more were murdered.
“What they did was burn the house and then the smoke would make the people run away and then they would shoot them,” Bar-Sinai continued as she showed me the homes. “Here a baby was shot and killed, sitting on his mother’s lap in the safe room.”
“This they burned for fun,” she said about the art gallery that is now in charred shambles.
We continued walking, arriving at the rows of homes closest to the Gaza fence where terrorists plowed through. Many of them with massive holes in the walls, a result of impacts from RPGs.
The terrorists quickly took over homes along the road and put machine guns on the roofs. When the first responders started to arrive, including medics, they were shot down.
“There isn’t even one family who isn’t affected,” Bar-Sinai, whose husband was murdered on October 7, said. “This is where the systematic killing took place.”
At the medical clinic in one neighborhood, Hamas terrorists threw 30 grenades at nurses, EMTs, and their patients.
The bomb shelters, used for protection against rockets, were filled with bullet holes — including the one inside a playground for children.
After I took the tour it was back to the highway, known as the “blood road,” to get out. Along the way bomb shelters have been repainted with beautiful murals by artists, but the impact of grenades and bullets remains. The smells of death are gone, but the memories of the murdered live on.
As Hamas continues its war by holding hostages deep underground, the Israel Defense Forces are doing their job by preparing for an invasion into Rafah — where 8,000 terrorists remain and where hostages are being detained and tortured. As for Be’eri, they plan to rebuild and double the population of their community in the next few years. They’ll do so by honoring the blessed memories of their murdered neighbors, families, and friends.
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