Terrorists setting fire to Israeli houses in Kibbutz Be'eri
These times are challenging, and the atrocities from Hamas' unexpected assault on Israel are coming to light. Disturbing visuals from Kibbutz Be'eri reveal homes and shelters ablaze after Hamas terrorists intentionally torched them to drive out and kill Israeli civilians.
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Miri Gad Mesika, who documented the grim scenes, recounted, "I haven't slept for days. Thick smoke and gas entered the house through the electrical outlets and doorframes. We choked on the smoke as the house burned. We soaked towels with water and covered our faces, while my husband Eli held the shelter door closed as hard as he could as the terrorists tried to break in.”
“Moments before we jumped from the second floor, we assessed the situation of the fire and looked out for the terrorists and decided to jump. We fled to our neighbors across the street, and watched our house go up in flames before it was completely burned down. I have no idea how we survived," she said.
Members of the ZAKA emergency service began entering the kibbutzim around the Gaza border on Monday to recover bodies, with Be'eri being first. Until now, the IDF prohibited ZAKA from entering due to concerns about terrorists in the area.
On Sunday, ZAKA spokesperson Moti Bukchin said the organization has a severe shortage of equipment to distribute to all its volunteers. "Personally, I didn’t wear a protective vest today in the field," he said.
Meanwhile, additional footage of the shocking scenes from the peace party from Re’im has been released. The empty site has turned into ruins, with many burnt vehicles lining the roadsides.
One of the people injured at the party recounted the difficult events in an interview with Channel 12 News: "They stopped the music and told us that rocket sirens were sounding. After a few minutes, the event’s organizers jumped over the fence and shouted terrorists were infiltrating the area.”
“We were 11 or 12 friends, and got into three cars and started driving north, looking for a place to escape. It was chaos. People were in a panic, driving at 120-100 km/h. We fled northward, and wherever we arrived, the police told us to turn back while terrorists fired in our direction, and saw them approaching us with RPG rocket launchers.”
"We reached a barricade where an armed officer stopped us, and he told us to get inside. There was nowhere else to run. There were about 30 of us inside."
"The terrorists began shooting at us, neutralized the police officer, and threw a hand grenade which exploded at the barricade’s entrance. Everyone screamed, people prayed, cried, and groaned in pain. Then another grenade was thrown, and hit the wall. After about half a minute, my friend was murdered right in front of me. She tried to run away because she was choking inside. We tried to grab her, but we couldn't. She tackled the terrorist and was shot at point-blank range.”
“The terrorists entered and started opening fire at us. I stood in the second row of people, close to the wall. Everyone in the first and second rows was killed except for me. People in the third and fourth rows were also hit by bullets. I was hit in the elbow and had shrapnel in my legs and ribs. I that the terrorist had a malfunction in his weapon, and he fled outside.”
“One of the guys there said that the area was clear, and we went outside. I looked for a weapon on the floor but couldn't find one. Then they opened fire on us again. I ran to a police car nearby, searched for a weapon there, and contacted the police, telling them we needed reinforcement because there were casualties and victims. The police officer on the line told me to run away and wished me good luck."
Ulyana, who was also at the party in southern Israel, said, "I didn't know it was so close to the border. It was my first time going to a party like this. When the rockets began, we panicked terribly and immediately headed home. I saw many cars stopped on the roadside, and we stopped next to them. I didn't realize people there were already dead.”
“There was probably a sniper positioned somewhere who was simply shooting anyone passing by with a car and blowing off their heads. There were many bodies lying on the road. Every car that tried to pass got into an accident because it was shot at.”
“An Audi jeep passed by us, and we heard screams from inside the car. A girl was there whose head was injured; it was horrifying. I was talking with a firefighter on the phone, and he tried to tell me to hide somewhere in the nearby settlement. Luckily, we didn't go in because there were terrorists there. I crawled toward the car, they shot in our direction and the windows shattered. Every car was sprayed with bullets. I thought I was going to die.”
“Eventually, someone gave us a ride to the hospital because the car stopped moving. I had shrapnel stuck in my back, but I only got treated in the evening because there were much more severe cases in the hospital. People kept arriving at the hospital. About 20-30 people died in front of me, you can't erase these images from your head."