On 7 October 2023, around 250 Hamas and other Palestinian militants attacked Kfar Aza, an Israeli kibbutz (cooperative community) about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the border with the Gaza Strip, massacring residents and abducting hostages. It took two days for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to regain full control of the area, by which point at least 62 residents had been killed, while a further 19 were taken hostage.[4][5][6]

The attack quickly gained notoriety as a result of war crimes documented by survivor testimonies, forensic evidence, and captured militants footage.[7] Hamas militants engaged in several violations of combatant distinctions under international law, including shooting civilians taking shelter in safe rooms,[6][8] sexually assaulting hostages.[7][9] Militants shot victims inside their homes.[10] A widely circulated claim that militants had decapitated 40 babies at the kibbutz was later shown to be false.[11]

Prior to the massacre, the Kibbutz had 950 residents.[2][12]

Massacre

Initial Hamas invasion

According to the IDF, around 250 Palestinians attacked the kibbutz on the morning of 7 October 2023, consisting of between 120 and 165 militants from Hamas's Nukhba forces and 80 other Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and unaffiliated militants. Another Palestinian militant group, the Maoist DFLP, also declared that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) were fighting the IDF in Kfar Aza.[13] The first six militants entered the kibbutz using paragliders at 6:42 a.m. under the cover of rocket fire from Gaza. A minute later, militants created a breach in the Gaza–Israel barrier fence that would be used to attack Kfar Aza. Hamas militants in pickup trucks entered the kibbutz at 6:50 a.m. through two entrances in the north and southwest, while others arrived on motorbikes.[2]

Moments earlier, three patrol vehicles belonging to the Israel Defense Forces were ordered to respond to the attack. One vehicle was ambushed while driving to Kfar Aza, while the other two came under fire in Sderot. An Israeli tank was stationed outside the kibbutz at 7:25 a.m. and opened fire at militants approaching the community, but did not enter as it was ordered to fight elsewhere.[2]

Battle and massacre

After entering the kibbutz, which was 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from Gaza, the militants proceeded to massacre residents.[14] The Islamist militants began by targeting the west side of the community—an area in the kibbutz close to Gaza—where families with young children lived.[15][16] They captured the entire kibbutz within the first hour of the attack.[2] Hamas militants broadened the attack to all four directions.[15] Militants burned houses and killed civilian residents.[17][18][19]The corpses of those who had lived in the area were found with their hands tied.[19][20]

A survivor, Avidor Schwartzman, described how he hid with his wife and one-year-old daughter in their safe room for over 20 hours until their rescue by Israeli soldiers.

Further clashes

By night, around 1,000 soldiers were in Kfar Aza, while 50 militants remained barricaded inside houses.[2] It took the IDF two and a half days to regain full control of the kibbutz after the initial attack.[16] The paratroopers of Unit 71 led the assault to retake the area.[10]

On 8 October, a soldier from the Givati Brigade was killed during a shootout with militants. By 8 a.m., on October 8, some 60% of kibbutz residents had been evacuated but hundreds remained trapped. Fighting continued throughout the day, with the combat zones becoming increasingly contained. By 9 October, 10–20 militants remained at the kibbutz. That day, a soldier from the Nahal Brigade was killed during combat. On the morning of 9 October, Shayetet 13 naval commandos were tasked with rescuing the residents still barricaded in their safe rooms. On 10 October, the final phase of the evacuation took place and troops conducted sweeps to find the last remaining militants. By the afternoon, an order was given for all active combat units to withdraw and soldiers of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade moved in to secure the kibbutz. The last combat incident took place at 6 p.m., when soldiers of the 55th Brigade's 28th Battalion spotted and killed the last Hamas fighter, who was wounded and still clutching a knife.[2][8]

Casualties

Exterior of buildings showing damage from attack during visit from US Senator Lindsey Graham in January 2024

According to BBC News, most of the victims of the massacre died in the opening hours of the attack. As of 10 October 2023, soldiers were still going through the community to recover bodies.[27] According to one soldier present, several civilians had been beheaded.[28] Other victims were dismembered or burned.[29] Children and babies were initially reported to be among the killed.[30][31] By late 2024, the number of deaths was reported as either 62[4] or 79,[32] with 18[32] or 19[4] abducted to Gaza. An IDF probe of the massacre presented in March 2025 reported that 62 kibbutz residents, including five soldiers and a Shin Bet member, and an additional 18 security forces were killed, while 19 civilians were abducted.[4]

In the aftermath of the initial Hamas assault, witnesses from the IDF and the first responder organization ZAKA told i24news that they had seen the bodies of beheaded infants at the site of the Kfar Aza massacre.[33][34][30] During Antony Blinken's visit to Israel, he said he was shown photos of the massacre by Hamas of Israeli civilians and soldiers, and specifically that he saw beheaded IDF soldiers.[35] U.S. President Biden separately said that he had seen photographic evidence of terrorists beheading children, but the White House later clarified that Biden was alluding to news reports of beheadings, which have not contained or referred to photographic evidence.[31]

A ZAKA volunteer reported on 14 October that he had seen children's bodies with severe injuries and burns. Some of the bodies appeared to have been decapitated, but the exact circumstances were not clear.[36] On 24 October, Israeli authorities screened body cam footage of Hamas atrocities for journalists, including "an attempt to decapitate someone who appeared to be still alive using a garden hoe",[37] as well as a still image of a decapitated IDF soldier.[38] The locations of these attacks were not specified in the reporting.[37][38]

An allegation of "40 beheaded babies" spread widely on social media in the days immediately following the massacre, which was later found to be false.[31][39] On 4 December, Haaretz reported that "unverified stories [had been] disseminated by Israeli search and rescue groups, army officers and even Sara Netanyahu".[11][40] Haaretz journalists Nir Hasson and Liza Rozovsky related the chronology of the news items about "beheaded babies" and "hung babies" and concluded, "this story is false".[11] They quoted Ishay Coen, a journalist for the ultra-Orthodox website Kikar Hashabbat, who admitted he made a mistake by unquestioningly accepting the IDF's claims.[11] "Why would an army officer invent such a horrifying story?", Hashabbat asked, adding, "I was wrong".[11] Haaretz also reported that some testimony came from reservist officers.[11]

An investigation into the October 7th attack by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the United Nations Human Rights Council probed the reports of sexual violence in Kfar Aza. It found that while the reports sexual violence at Kfar Aza cannot be verified, female victims found undressed, bound and shot may be indicative of sexual violence.[41]

About 150 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting inside and near the kibbutz and three more were captured alive. Of the dead, 101 militants were inside Kfar Aza, and 50 were around the kibbutz. Another militant who was identified as a participant in the attack was later killed during the invasion of Gaza.[1]

Aftermath

On October 14, one week after the massacre, a vigil by a survivor of the Kfar Aza Massacre grew into a protest which attracted hundreds of participants, calling for the return of the 17 Kfar Aza residents kidnapped by Hamas during the attack, as well as the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu.[42] Another protest organized by survivors took place on October 26.[43]

Kfar Aza massacre survivor Ziv Stahl, executive director of the human rights organization Yesh Din, strongly opposed calls to exact revenge in an article for Haaretz, arguing that, "Indiscriminate bombing in Gaza and the killing of civilians uninvolved with these horrible crimes are no solution".[44]

Israeli Major General Itai Veruv described the massacre as a terror attack.[12] Hamas has also released video footage of the attack.[45] Journalists were granted access to the site on 10 October 2023.[12][46] In December 2023 it was reported that actress Debra Messing and journalist Douglas Murray toured the site of the massacre and met with survivors during their trip to Israel.[47]

Exterior of home in Kfar Aza kibbutz showing hostage poster during visit from US Senator Lindsey Graham in January 2024

The kibbutz has become a place of pilgrimage, military ceremonies and tourism by visitors to Israel and Israeli citizens, with at least one resident speaking out about the practice. She told reporters that items were being taken from peoples homes and buildings, along with some not respecting the area and history, after finding two IDF soldiers taking selfies in her home when she came to collect items.[48] A visitor to the site expressed discomfort walking through the empty streets and stated that many homes had giant banners with the names and pictures of their residents along with their status after the attacks.[49]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Claimed partial responsibility for the attacks.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Terrorists took Kfar Aza in an hour. Recapturing it took the IDF days, probe finds". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Fabian, Emmanuel (3 March 2025). "Terrorists took Kfar Aza in an hour. Recapturing it took the IDF days, probe finds". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  3. ↑ الانترنت, الحرية-مجلة التقدميين العرب على. خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية [During a statement a short while ago...the National Resistance Brigades (Forces of the Martyr Omar Al-Qasim), the military wing of the Democratic Front] (in Arabic). مجلة التقدميين العرب على الانترنت. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Steinberg, Jessica (6 October 2024). "A year after Oct. 7, Kfar Aza and Nir Oz are mostly empty, with residents in anguish". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  5. ↑ Tzuri, Matan (15 October 2023). "A quarter of the residents of Nir Oz are either dead or missing". Ynet. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 Spencer, Richard (13 October 2023). "They came at dawn: inside the Kfar Aza kibbutz massacre". The Times. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  7. 1 2 Wille, Belkis (17 July 2024). ""I Can't Erase All the Blood from My Mind"". Human Rights Watch.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zitun, Yoav (3 March 2025). "700 soldiers, senior commanders and chaos: Inside the October 7 massacre at Kfar Aza". Ynetnews. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  9. ↑ Sexual Crimes in the October 7 War Special Report of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (PDF) (Report). Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. pp. 14–19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  10. 1 2 Bowen, Jeremy (10 October 2023). "Inside Kfar Aza where Hamas militants killed families in their homes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hasson, Nir; Rozovsky, Liza (4 December 2023). "Hamas Committed Documented Atrocities. But a Few False Stories Feed the Deniers". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Lubell, Maayan (10 October 2023). "Bodies of residents and militants lie in the grounds of ravaged Israeli kibbutz". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  13. ↑ الانترنت, الحرية-مجلة التقدميين العرب على. "khilal bayan laha qabl qalilin.. katayib almuqawamat alwatania (quaat alshahid eumar alqasuma) aljanah aleaskarii liljabhat aldiymuqratia" خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية [During a statement a short while ago...the National Resistance Brigades (Forces of the Martyr Omar Al-Qasim), the military wing of the Democratic Front] (in Arabic). مجلة التقدميين العرب على الانترنت. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Lubell, Maayan (10 October 2023). "Insight: How an Israeli kibbutz 'paradise' turned into hell in Hamas attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  15. 1 2 Pfeffer, Anshel (10 October 2023). "Bitterness and fury at the kibbutz where babies had their throats cut". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  16. 1 2 Hendrix, Steve (10 October 2023). "Scenes from a massacre: Inside an Israeli town destroyed by Hamas". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Hutchinson, Bill (10 October 2023). "Mom says sons snatched by Hamas while on the phone with her". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Smell of death fills Israeli kibbutz where civilians were slain". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  19. 1 2 Oliphant, Roland; Vasilyeva, Nataliya (10 October 2023). "Babies killed in Hamas attacks on kibbutz as death toll passes 1,000". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "5,000 תמונות, גופות עירומות וירויות ובלי אחריות על חמאס: הדו"ח המלא של האו"ם" (in Hebrew). Walla. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  21. ↑ Lubell, Maayan; Rose, Emily (12 October 2023). "How an Israeli kibbutz 'paradise' turned into hell in Hamas attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  22. 1 2 Logan, Nick (10 October 2023). "Why Hamas took so many people hostage — and how that complicates Israel's response". CBC News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  23. ↑ Federman, Josef; Adwan, Issam (7 October 2023). "Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  24. 1 2 Spencer, Richard (13 October 2023). "They came at dawn: inside the Kfar Aza kibbutz massacre". The Times. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "Tal Eilon, 46: Killed three terrorists before falling in battle". The Times of Israel. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  26. ↑ "The general armed with only a knife who set out to regain control of his kibbutz on Oct. 7". The Times of Israel. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  27. ↑ Emergui, Sal (10 October 2023). "Kfar Aza, el kibutz donde Hamas asesinó a 40 bebés". El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  28. ↑ "What we actually know about the viral report of beheaded babies in Israel". Sky News. 12 October 2023. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  29. ↑ Oliphant, Roland (10 October 2023). "Hamas slaughtered babies and children in Kfar Aza kibbutz massacre". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  30. 1 2 Williams, Holly; Lyall, Erin (11 October 2023). "Israel kibbutz the scene of a Hamas "massacre", first responders say: "The depravity of it is haunting"". CBS News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  31. 1 2 3 Tenbarge, Kat; Chan, Melissa (12 October 2023). "Unverified reports of '40 babies beheaded' in Israel-Hamas war inflame social media". NBC News. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  32. 1 2 Curiel, Ilana (21 August 2024). "Victims of massacre say will shun government memorial event". Ynetnews. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  33. ↑ Zedeck, Nicole (10 October 2023). "'It smells of death here': Surveying the scenes of atrocities in Kfar Aza". I24news. Retrieved 11 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  34. ↑ Tuquero, Loreben (13 October 2023). "Reports of 260 Israeli music fest deaths aren't unsubstantiated". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  35. ↑ Norman, Greg (12 October 2023). "Israeli PM's office releases graphic photos purporting to show Hamas 'murdered and burned' babies". Fox News. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  36. ↑ Gunter, Joel (14 October 2023). "Zaka: The volunteers giving dignity to Israel's dead". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  37. 1 2 Gunter, Joel (23 October 2023). "Israel shows Hamas bodycam attack footage to journalists". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  38. 1 2 Carroll, Rory (23 October 2023). "Israel shows footage of Hamas killings 'to counter denial of atrocities'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  39. ↑ Chance, Matthew; Greene, Richard Allen; Berlinger, Joshua (12 October 2023). "Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  40. ↑ "Israeli personnel gave false information about 7 October attack crimes – report". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  41. ↑ "Mission report:Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank 29 January – 14 February 2024" (PDF). United Nations. 2024.
  42. ↑ Khusro, Kashif (14 October 2023). "Kfar Aza Massacre Victims Stage Protest Outside Israel Defence Ministry; Demand Answers". The Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  43. ↑ "As ground war looms, Kfar Aza residents rally outside military HQ for hostages' return". The Times of Israel. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  44. ↑ Noy, Orly (25 October 2023). "Listen to Israeli survivors: They don't want revenge". +972 Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  45. ↑ "Israel-Hamas War: Video shows Hamas militants attack on Kfar Aza kibbutz". Sky News. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  46. ↑ Berman, Lazar (10 October 2023). "'At least 40 babies killed': Foreign reporters taken to massacre site in Kfar Aza". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  47. ↑ Froim, Yoni (21 December 2023). "American actor Debora Messing visits in Israel: 'Wouldn't want to be anywhere else'". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  48. ↑ Surkes, Sue (5 January 2024). "Kibbutz Kfar Aza, devastated on October 7, becomes a grim place of pilgrimage". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  49. ↑ Samuels, Andrea (16 February 2024). "Tours of October 7 massacre sites: Tourist attraction or solidarity mission? – opinion". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0792-822X. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kfar_Aza_massacre