As the days go by and the bodies are found and identified despite the fighting that is still taking place in the south of Israel, the testimonies of the survivors of the jihadist “Black Saturday” multiply. The date that entered the calendar with blood, bullets and knives to be remembered and mourned in the 21 agricultural groups bordering the Gaza Strip.
Precisely, the largest terrorist attack in the history of Israel occurred in the fiefdom of the left in favor of a commitment to peace with the Palestinians in general and coexistence with the Gazan neighbors in particular.
Although beyond the possible political consequences, especially in the new generations, what now dominates is the shock of horror. For example, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Armed with kalashnikovs, machetes, grenades and the green ribbon of loyalty to their group and the jihad (holy war), 70 members of the armed wing of Hamas, arriving from a strip located just two kilometers away, broke into this pastoral group and forced it to suffer its most shocking moment since its creation in 1951. One of the first to fall in combat with the attackers was one of the people responsible for the enclave who intervened in the armed clash as the first and improvised line of containment. Many others were shot in their houses. Some in their beds. Others in their cribs.
“The Hamas barbarians massacred 40 babies. Israel will honor each of the victims of these atrocious jihadist terrorist attacks,” Israeli sources say.
Accompanying a group of foreign journalists on the first day that the kibbutz opened its doors after three days of blood, silence and uncertainty, officer Itai Veruv: “You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers, in their bedrooms, in rooms where they tried to take shelter and how the terrorists murdered them.
He later stressed that “it was not a battlefield but a kibbutz. It is a massacre by terrorists.” According to various sources, there were also beheadings of babies although there is still no official confirmation of such savagery.
The soldiers have been on a double mission for several days: “cleaning” the area of ​​militiamen and finding survivors and bodies. Along the way, cars and houses that the attackers set on fire to provoke the departure of those who would be their victims. There are cases of Israelis who remained hidden for two days in the sealed and armored room waiting for the soldiers to arrive while listening to the terrorists at a short distance. 33 members of the kibbutz were on vacation in Bulgaria so they saved their lives but lost their children, grandchildren and friends.
“Hamas has broken all the red lines. What has happened is inconceivable, so the State and the Army must sign a new contract with us. We will not return to the kibbutzim as long as there are terrorists in Gaza,” said Haim Yelin.
Members of Zaka, in charge of finding human remains so they can be buried and honored by their families, found dozens of bodies in a kibbutz that will take years to recover. His work continued tonight house to house in other groups.
On Sunday, a day after the massacre, a resident of Kfar Aza sent the following message: “There are still terrorists in the kibbutz! They shoot at the stairs, they hide on the roofs, some are even still in houses with hostages.” The Army and YAMAM (elite police unit in charge of fighting terrorism) had a lot of work this weekend in the kibbutzim. Several dozen paid with their lives in clashes lasting several hours with militiamen who, for their part, were filming their “conquests.” According to official sources cited by Channel 13, “there are about 1,500 bodies of terrorists in our territory who died during their attacks.” Several dozen were arrested.
“What they have done is typical of the Nazis or the terrorists of Daesh (ISIS),” some testimonies, media and leaders affirm with language that reflects not only the shock of the events but the demand for an unprecedented military response.
“It is Daesh from Gaza. There is none. We take off the gloves. We will eliminate Hamas. Israel cannot allow its children to be murdered,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, admitting that the offensive “could take months.” The pain in Kfar Aza will last longer.