Be'eri massacre

During the October 7 attacks on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Gazan militants and civilian looters attacked the kibbutz, killing and abducting civilians while facing resistance from armed residents. Israeli security forces regained control by the evening of 8 October. A total of 101 Israeli civilians and 31 security personnel were killed and 32 hostages were taken from the kibbutz. At least 100 Gazan militants were also killed and 18 were captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the kibbutz security force.

Among the civilians killed were women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver), children, and one infant, claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. A total of 125 homes in the community were damaged or destroyed. Among the dead were twelve-year-old fraternal twins Liel and Yanai Hetzroni, whose father stated that the Hamas terrorists had come to the kibbutz only "to kill, murder, maim Jewish children, babies, parents and old people, all because they lived in the Jewish homeland."

This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other Palestinian attacks on Israel, including the Netiv HaAsara, Kfar Aza, and Nova music festival massacres. Several newspapers described the massacre as an act of terrorism, with CNN describing it as "the symbol of Hamas’ brutality."

Be'eri is a veteran-established kibbutz located in the Gaza periphery since 1946. Its members are generally on the secular left, and it includes many peace activists, some of whom assisted Palestinians in Gaza.

The kibbutz had around 1,200 residents before the attack and was the largest village of the Eshkol Regional Council.

The Hamas force targeting Be'eri consisted of militants belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades' Nuseirat Battalion led by Abed al-Rahman. The PIJ participated in the attack, as did other armed groups. The DFLP claimed that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) fought the IDF in Be'eri. The IDF probe into the massacre estimated that at the height of the massacre there were 340 attackers in Be'eri, including 120 members of Hamas' Nukhba unit, 70 additional Hamas militants, and 150 members of the Islamic Jihad Movement, other armed factions, and Gazan civilian looters.

The Hamas attack on southern Israel began at 6:30 AM. Amid a heavy rocket barrage, Hamas militants broke through the border barrier into Israel, attacking civilian communities and military bases. The IDF's Paga outpost, located very close to the kibbutz and known internally in the IDF as the "Be'eri protector" outpost, was attacked. The soldiers there were forced to fight off the militants attacking their base and were unable to defend Be'eri. Other forces stationed in the area went to fight the attackers at kibbutz Nahal Oz, leaving Be'eri unprotected.

At 6:42 AM, Hamas militants from the 2nd company of the Nuseirat Battalion crossed the border and headed towards Be'eri on motorcycles. The first of them reached Be’eri at 06:56, with the last members reaching the kibbutz at 7:20 AM. In the meantime, the Nuseirat Battalion's 1st and 3rd companies perpetrated the Re'im music festival massacre and later headed towards Netivot, but turned back en route after spotting an Israeli tank and per instructions given by Hamas commanders, joined the 2nd company in the attack on Be'eri hours after the attack began. Hamas militants entered the kibbutz from two directions.