Israel Defence Force spokesperson Lieutenant Col. Jonathan Conricus confirmed reports that Hamas had beheaded babies in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza.
The Israeli military on Thursday shed light on the horrific scenes that unfolded during the attack by Hamas militants, saying the scenes in a kibbutz were reminiscent of a “zombie movie”. Providing an operation update, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said that the mutilated bodies of women and children were scattered everywhere.
“The scenes are out of a zombie movie. It is a war zone…Many body bags were evacuated from that Kibbutz, including those of children and babies. We got very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded. It was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such a barbaric act,” Conricus said.
“There were bodies scattered everywhere, mutilated, women and children that were handcuffed and shot, executed, houses torched and burned, and people who were either burned inside or suffocated,” he added.
On the unconfirmed reports of beheading of children by Hamas, the spokesperson cited eyewitnesses and a senior official in the Israeli Coronary Service to assert that the incident occurred in Be’eri, a kibbutz in southern Israel.
“After eyewitnesses came forward and after a senior official in the Israeli Coronary Service, Zaka, came forward on record and said, yes, I saw the bodies of beheaded babies, I think we can now say with relative confidence that this is unfortunately what happened in Be’eri. This is what Hamas did to Israeli civilians,” he said.
Israel’s death toll rose to at least 1,300 since the surprise attack launched by Hamas on Saturday, the country’s public broadcaster Kan said on Thursday. Several media reports have highlighted the massacre in Be’eri, the largest of the 12 villages comprising the Eshkol regional council that runs along the border with Gaza.
A report by The Guardian has described Be’eri as a “place indelibly associated with horror and tragedy” after Hamas set fire to buildings to drive out the occupants who were hiding there.
“It is also where the bodies of the dead, 108 in all, were brought and laid out to await collection by the emergency services,” the report said.
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