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Nearly a year and a half after the war began, and with an Israeli state commission of inquiry still a distant prospect, the most comprehensive report on the events of October 7 has been published - but not in Israel. British lawmakers on Tuesday released a detailed, 315-page report describing the massacre committed by Hamas and other terrorist organizations on what has come to be known as "Black Saturday."
“The purpose of this report is to clearly and accurately document the events of October 7, to ensure they are never forgotten,” said Lord Andrew Roberts, the historian who served as the lead author.
In his introduction to the report, Roberts wrote: "Holocaust denial took a few years to take root in pockets of society, but on 7 October 2023 it took only hours for people to claim that the massacres in southern Israel had not taken place. Hamas and its allies, both in the Middle East and equally shamefully in the West, have sought to deny the atrocities, despite the ironic fact that much of the evidence for the massacres derives from film footage from cameras carried by the terrorists themselves."
Roberts said that the report "has been undertaken to counter such pernicious views and to lay down incontrovertible proof."
“Nearly 1,200 innocent people were indeed murdered by Hamas and its allies, and very often in scenes of sadistic barbarism not seen in world history since the Rape of Nanjing in 1937,” he wrote, referring to the Japanese army’s mass killing and rape campaign in China, where hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered and tens of thousands of women were raped.
The report was produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on UK-Israel, which includes members of the British Parliament and House of Lords, following more than a year of research and writing. Among its findings: 18 British citizens were killed on October 7, the highest number of Britons killed in a terrorist attack outside the UK since 9/11.
One of the youngest victims documented was Naama Abu Rashed, a 14-hour-old infant. Her mother, Sujud, a resident of Abu Qrenat, was wounded in her ninth month of pregnancy while on her way to Soroka Medical Center. Naama was delivered in an emergency C-section but died before she was a day old. Sujud survived and gave birth to another child the following year.
According to the report, 7,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel on October 7, murdering 1,182 people, injuring more than 4,000 and abducting 251 — 210 alive and 41 whose bodies were taken. “This was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and the deadliest terror attack relative to population size — one in every 10,000 Israelis was killed,” the report said, describing it as the third-largest terror attack ever.
Other sections detail Hamas’ preparations for the assault, including plans to reach Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat, and to break into Shikma Prison near Ashkelon. The report lists the number of people killed and abducted in each community and documents sexual violence and the desecration of bodies.
Among new details cited by the Daily Mail is the final message sent by Jake Aaron Marlowe, a 24-year-old British-Israeli citizen who made Aliyah in 2021 and was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., he messaged: “We’re gathering people at the party and telling everyone to get out.” Marlowe was shot nine times. His father identified his body four days later by a tattoo.
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British-Israeli citizen Jake Marlowe was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival and was killed on October 7
The report’s final chapter, “In Memoriam,” lists the names of 1,141 victims, alphabetically from Meir Abergil, 55, of Sderot, to Dali Zhou, 35, a Chinese national who also lived in Sderot. It also includes the names of the 251 hostages, from Tamir Adar to Shlomi Ziv, who was freed during Operation Arnon.
Minute by minute: The first hour of the massacre
6:15 a.m. – Hamas teams assemble at 24 locations along the Gaza border fence.
6:29 a.m. – Red alert sirens sound throughout Gaza border communities, the Negev and soon after in central Israel. A total of 3,873 rockets are launched throughout the day.
6:30 a.m. – The invasion begins. Snipers from Gaza open fire on multiple IDF positions along the fence, as the first wave of terrorists breaches it. In total, the fence is breached at 119 points during the assault.
6:32 a.m. – Hamas terrorists on paragliders infiltrate Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Shortly after, 110 terrorists storm the kibbutz's main gate using explosives.
6:34 a.m. – Terrorists penetrate Moshav Netiv HaAsara using paragliders.
6:35 a.m. – The assault on Kibbutz Kissufim begins, including an attack on the nearby IDF base.
6:40 a.m. – Terrorists infiltrate Kibbutz Holit. Another group cuts the fence and enters Kibbutz Nirim. The Nahal Oz military base comes under attack. Music at the Nova Festival stops, and attendees are urged to evacuate.
6:41 a.m. – Southern District Police Commander Amir Cohen declares mass infiltration. Ten minutes later, the order is transmitted via police communications.
6:43 a.m. – Terrorists breach the fence near the Kerem Shalom crossing. Nine minutes later, the IDF base alerts the neighboring Kibbutz Kerem Shalom that the crossing has been overrun.
6:45 a.m. – Fast Zodiac boats carrying Hamas naval commandos land on Zikim Beach. The Israeli Navy reports an infiltration. Terrorists blow up the barrier wall and enter the Erez Crossing, seizing full control five minutes later. Simultaneously, attacks begin on kibbutzim Be’eri, Nahal Oz and Ein Hashlosha. The standby unit at Kibbutz Sa’ad assembles to confront terrorists gathering outside.
6:47 a.m. – Terrorists reach the vicinity of the Pega outpost. Mortar shells are fired at the location. Col. Asaf Hamami, commander of the IDF's Gaza Division Southern Brigade, arrives at Kibbutz Nirim. He is killed shortly after, with his last communication at 7:05 a.m. His body is later taken into Gaza.
6:49 a.m. – Terrorists reach Kibbutz Nir Oz.
6:50 a.m. – The standby unit at Kibbutz Kfar Aza comes under attack, leaving the community with almost no defense. Terrorists also infiltrate Kibbutz Sufa. Twenty civilians fleeing from Zikim Beach arrive at the nearby IDF Zikim base seeking shelter.
6:55 a.m. – Terrorists breach the Nahal Oz base. They also blow open the main gate of Moshav Pri Gan.
6:56 a.m. – An attack is launched on Kibbutz Mefalsim.
6:57 a.m. – Hamas terrorists post images of slain Israeli civilian Bracha Levinson on her Facebook page.
6:58 a.m. – The first large wave of terrorists enters the city of Sderot. Terrorists also infiltrate Kibbutz Be’eri.
7:00 a.m. – The Re’im military base, headquarters of the Gaza Division, comes under heavy assault. Terrorists attack Kibbutz Nir Am and infiltrate Kibbutz Alumim, where, five minutes later, they begin killing foreign workers, including Nepalese nationals. Terrorists set up an ambush at the Mefalsim junction on Route 232 and enter the IDF’s Gaza Coordination and Liaison base near the Erez crossing. Most attendees of the Nova music festival flee. Sixteen of them are killed on nearby roads, including British-Israeli citizen Dor Hanan Shafir.
Terrorists reach the Yiftach base in northern Gaza Envelope. British-Israeli Golani Brigade soldier Netanel Young is killed.
7:02 a.m. – Terrorists enter the city of Ofakim.
7:03 a.m. – Hamas forces attack the police station in Sderot. Simultaneously, a smaller group enters the city from another direction and murders 13 elderly civilians waiting at a bus stop.
7:10 a.m. – Terrorists infiltrate the city of Netivot and Kibbutz Magen. The bomb shelter at Alumim, along Route 232, is attacked; it shelters survivors from the Nova festival. Rocket fire continues against Ashkelon.
7:15 a.m. – Terrorists lay an ambush at the Mivtahim junction on Route 232. Thirty survivors from the Nova festival reach Kibbutz Re’im.
7:18 a.m. – Hamas publishes a prerecorded message from its military leader Mohammed Deif on its Al-Qassam website, declaring the start of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" and claiming 5,000 rockets were launched at Israel. Terrorists infiltrate Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.
7:19 a.m. – Terrorists attack the Zikim base.
7:20 a.m. – Hostages are taken from Kibbutz Erez. This is the first abduction the IDF is aware of in real-time. Terrorists reach the gates of Kibbutz Erez and the Re’im base. Survivors from the Nova festival arrive at Kibbutz Erez. Bernard Cohen, a British-Israeli citizen, is murdered in his home at Kibbutz Sufa.
7:25 a.m. – Terrorists launch an assault on Kibbutz Gevim. A second wave of attacks targets the Kissufim base.
7:26 a.m. – Hamas forces infiltrate the Urim military base.
7:30 a.m. – Hamas gains full control of the strategic Sha’ar HaNegev junction. Terrorists attack IDF soldiers at the Zikim base. Traffic jams at the exit from the Nova festival force attendees to abandon their vehicles. Many flee east or back west to the festival grounds, where they are murdered. British-Israeli security guard Jake Marlowe, working at the festival, is killed by terrorists.
The attack by the numbers and use of social media
The first part of the report details the scale and planning behind the massacre. It reveals that 3,800 Hamas "elite fighters," specifically from its Nukhba unit, led the attack, alongside 2,200 terrorists from other groups, including Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Others were likely unaffiliated civilians.
The report documents 119 breaches along the Gaza-Israel border, carried out with heavy weapons, drones and advanced munitions. A total of 4,860 rockets were launched at Israel over two days.
The report emphasizes that Hamas planned the assault for years. Its fighters trained on precise models of Israeli communities near Gaza, gathering early intelligence on the layout of towns and homes, including safe rooms and shelters. Some arrived with lists of residents marked for assassination or abduction.
British lawmakers noted in the Roberts report that Hamas terrorists documented their atrocities live on Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, transmitting graphic content to supporters worldwide, who then shared the images and celebrated on social media. In addition, the terrorists used victims' phones to send photos and videos directly to their families.
Murder, violence and sexual assault against civilians
The lawmakers detailed systematic executions and described cases in which residents were shot at point-blank range inside their homes, in fortified rooms and in bomb shelters. Some victims were burned alive after terrorists threw grenades into the safe rooms where they were hiding. The report’s authors emphasized that entire families were wiped out and that children and infants were found with severed limbs following the massacre.
According to the report, 99 people were murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri, including entire families. In Kibbutz Kfar Aza, 62 victims were killed. Infants were found clutched to the bodies of their parents. The report listed 75 hostages taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz. At the Nova music festival near Re’im, more than 370 people were murdered, some of whom were hiding under the stage or in portable toilets. This section of the report also described ambushes that terrorists set along the roads, including Route 232, where they waited for festivalgoers attempting to flee and opened fire on their vehicles with assault rifles and RPGs.
The report’s authors gathered testimonies of group rapes of women and girls, some of whom were murdered immediately afterward. They described how the bodies of women were found bearing signs of extreme violence following sexual assaults and collected additional accounts of sexual abuse committed against the corpses of victims. During the attack on the Nova festival, women were abducted into vehicles, where they were later raped and murdered.
Another section of the report focused specifically on children who were harmed in the massacre. It included testimonies of children who witnessed their parents being murdered before their eyes and described incidents of children being abducted from their homes. The report mentioned Kfir Bibas, a nine-month-old whose name appeared on the list of hostages appended to the report, and emphasized that “infants just a few months old were kidnapped.” It also noted cases in which babies were shot in their strollers, and some were burned alive.
Looting, destruction and mutilation
The report described how the terrorists systematically looted homes, stealing electronics, jewelry and food. After looting, they set homes on fire—even while residents were still hiding inside. In some cases, terrorists took photos of themselves inside the homes and sent the images to the victims’ families.
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The report listed numerous instances of abuse and desecration of bodies, including dragging the corpses of hostages through the streets of Gaza and using bodies in Israeli communities as propaganda on social media. The terrorists decapitated victims and mutilated their bodies even after death.
Attacks on military bases
The report also analyzed the assault on military bases in the Gaza border region, including Nahal Oz, Re’im Base (home to the Gaza Division headquarters) and the Sufa outpost. The report described the murders of female lookouts in command centers and bunkers, and noted that soldiers at the attacked bases were often killed while unarmed.
The British report describes the assault as “a meticulously planned operation designed not only to kill but to terrorize through extreme brutality, looting and humiliation.” It adds that: "Our report will hopefully permit people to see such denials and justifications for what they really are: a perversion of and rejection of human decency. We owe it to the victims and their grieving families to set down the ghastly unvarnished truth about the sheer barbarism that Hamas and its terrorist allies unleashed on 7 October 2023."