CBN News Gets Firsthand Look at Israeli Village Attacked by Hamas Terrorists

SOUTHERN ISRAEL – Last weekend, CBN News gained access to one of the Israeli communities targeted in the initial attacks from Gaza. 

CBN’s Chuck Holton went to see firsthand the destruction of this once-peaceful farming community.

Children’s toys lie scattered in the midst of shell casings and burned-out cars.  The smell of death lingers in the air, a pungent reminder of the hellish attack just over a week ago. 

Children’s toys lie scattered in the midst of shell casings and burned-out cars.  The smell of death lingers in the air, a pungent reminder of the hellish attack just over a week ago. 

Col. Golan Vach, commander of Israel’s national Search and Rescue, gave a tour of the village, describing what he found when his team first arrived, only hours after the area had been retaken from the terrorists.

“We found a family outside exactly where you are standing right now,” Vach said. “But it was only the beginning of what we saw inside.”

“In this corner of this living room, we find a concentration of eight babies burned among 15 other people, all of them in the same hole, like this living room and the next one,” he continued. 

“The terrorists came across as they came in here and slaughtered about 10% of the residents of this kibbutz. These are children, old people. And you can just see the incredible destruction that was wrought here by these terrorists,” Holton said.

“And the last terrorist was cleared out of this kibbutz a week after the initial attack. So their plan was to use it as a bargaining chip and to take everyone hostage here. Instead, they got an incredible battle as soldiers from the IDF came in and killed all of the terrorists,” he continued. 

“I think some of the terrorists who came were hiding in the houses for example here, waiting silently in high readiness for 12 or 16 hours, and then they get out. So every time we thought we cleaned the area, and everything was silent, suddenly, another 12 or 20 got out,” said IDF Major General Itai Veruv, leader of forces that cleared Be’eri.

When the village was finally cleared, rescuers turned to recovery, and what they found will stay will them for the rest of their lives.

“I found a mother lying, protecting her baby. And she was shot in the back. And the baby was beheaded,” Vach told CBN News. 

“You’ve been all over the world. You respond to rescues and crises. Describe how this compares to what you’ve seen around the world,” CBN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell, who was also on the tour, asked. 

“Nothing compared to that. If we needed anything to convince us. We cannot use the same democratic tools that the world uses. It’s not the human rights that you in your mind think of.” Vach replied. “Right now, there is no place for feeling. We are professionals. We need to achieve our goals and our goal is to ensure that the Hamas organization no longer exists.”

“This is what we’re talking about here. You see these pictures of people with their babies, their children. I just wanted to live a peaceful life,” Holton said as he held up a frame with several photos. ” And on the 7th of October, that peace was shattered. And now their home looks like this,” he said as the camera panned to a destroyed home. 

“All this region we must clear from this kind of threat. If we want to provide our citizens the security, the protection that we could not give them last Saturday. We need to do the right thing right now.,” Vach said. 

The battle to retake Be’eri may be over, but the war is just beginning.  And as these IDF troops marshal their forces within sight of the massacre, every one of them knows exactly what they are fighting for.  

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