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Kissufim massacre

Coordinates: 31°22′27″N 34°23′58″E / 31.37417°N 34.39944°E / 31.37417; 34.39944
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Kissufim massacre
Part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel
Kissufim is located in the Gaza Strip
Kissufim
Kissufim
Site of the attack in Israel
Native nameהטבח בכיסופים[citation needed]
LocationKissufim, Southern District, Israel
Coordinates31°22′27″N 34°23′58″E / 31.37417°N 34.39944°E / 31.37417; 34.39944
Date7 October 2023; 19 months ago (2023-10-07)
Attack type
Mass shooting, mass murder, war crime
Deaths10 civilians killed[1][2]
8 IDF soldiers killed[1]
4 kibbutz security members killed
VictimsAt least 4 taken hostage
Perpetrator

During the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip targeted Kissufim, a kibbutz located in the Southern District of Israel. At least four kibbutz security team members, four other residents, six Thai laborers and eight Israeli soldiers were killed. At least four individuals were additionally abducted and taken to Gaza.[3]

Background

Kissufim is a kibbutz, a small farming collective with 300 residents.[4] It is located close to the Kissufim crossing into the Gaza Strip, which was the main route for traffic to the Israeli settlement bloc in the strip prior to Israel's withdrawal from the territory in 2005.

Preceding events

On the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli targets and sent hundreds of militants to infiltrate Israeli military facilities and communities, where they clashed with security forces.[4]

Massacre

See also: List of military engagements during the Gaza war

On 7 October 2023, at least 70 Hamas fighters entered Kibbutz Kissufim. Another Palestinian militant group, the Maoist DFLP, also declared that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) were fighting the IDF in Kissufim.[5] The militants entered the own at about 6:30am shouting "IDF, IDF" to make the residents feel at ease, and deceive them into thinking Israeli soldiers were entering the town instead.[1] The militants were dressed in Israeli military garb.[4] Some civilians who walked up to the militants were shot at.[4] Several civilians fled into local bunkers, with one survivor stating she assumed it was the occasional rocket fire.[6] During the attack, a 90-year-old woman was reportedly dragged from her home's safe room into the living and killed by a gunshot to the head.[1] A couple and their 15-year-old son refused militants' demands to come out of their house and were burned alive when militants set it on fire.[3][7]

Throughout the attack, the kibbutz's security team fought back, with four members of the team being killed during the clashes. A platoon from the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade of the IDF arrived eventually, becoming engaged in a battle with the militants that lasted for several hours.[8][9] The town's buildings suffered heavy damage.[9] Survivors trapped in their homes were evacuated by IDF soldiers in the late afternoon.[10] Ten civilians were killed during the attack, including six Thai workers.[7] Eight IDF soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle.[11]

The Israeli government declared the border towns in the Gaza envelope as active military zones after the 7 October attack, closing off Kissifum and evacuating its remaining residents.[4] On Saturday night, the kibbutz residents were evacuated to a hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea.[4][12]

On 10 October, Reuven Heinik from Ashkelon, the kibbutz dairy farm manager, asked the army for permission to enter the kibbutz dairy farm in order to feed the cows who had not received food and water for about 60 hours. While at the milking parlor, a militant who was hiding at the location killed him.[13][14]

Five days after the attack, a militant who had survived the battle and hid in one of the houses opened fire on IDF troops, wounding three before being killed.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d צורי, מתן (11 October 2023). "הזוועות בכיסופים מתגלות: המחבלים גררו בת 90 לסלון וירו בראשה". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  2. ^ ynet, כתבי (17 October 2023). "יישוב אחרי יישוב: הנרצחים בטבח חמאס, העדויות המצמררות וסיפורי הגבורה". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b Tzuri, Matan (12 October 2023). "Horrors unraveling: Hamas militants cold-bloodedly execute 90-year-old Israeli woman". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Zoeann; Gerberg, Jon; Berger, Miriam; Shefte, Whitney (13 October 2023). "Survivors of Hamas's rampage in Israel recount the horrors they saw". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  5. ^ الانترنت, الحرية-مجلة التقدميين العرب على. "khilal bayan laha qabl qalilin.. katayib almuqawamat alwatania (quaat alshahid eumar alqasuma) aljanah aleaskarii liljabhat aldiymuqratia" خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية [During a statement a short while ago...the National Resistance Brigades (Forces of the Martyr Omar Al-Qasim), the military wing of the Democratic Front] (in Arabic). مجلة التقدميين العرب على الانترنت. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  6. ^ Murphy, Zoeann; Gerberg, Jon; Berger, Miriam; Shefte, Whitney (13 October 2023). "Survivors of Hamas's rampage in Israel recount the horrors they saw". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b Tzuri, Matan (12 October 2023). "Horrors unraveling: Hamas terrorists cold-bloodedly execute 90-year-old Israeli woman". Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023 – via www.ynetnews.com.
  8. ^ Starr, Michael (10 November 2023). "War journal: Uncertainty and decay in Kissufim". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b Tzuri, Matan (12 October 2023). "Untrained, lacking proper arms, local security teams defended their Gaza border homes". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  10. ^ "סיפור הגבורה של סער ז"ל: "אני הולך להציל את הבית"". סרוגים (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :32 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ ""אל תדאג, לאבא יש אקדח": תיעוד רגעי האימה מהממ"ד בכיסופים | חדשות 13". רשת 13 (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  13. ^ קריסטל, מירב (10 October 2023). "רפתנים נרצחו ונחטפו: "חולבים עם מתנדבים, הייבוא יהיה אצבע בעין"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  14. ^ "ראובן התעקש לחלוב את הפרות - ונהרג על ידי מחבל שהסתתר ברפת בכיסופים - וואלה! חדשות". וואלה! (in Hebrew). 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  15. ^ "As volunteers step in for state, Gaza border towns begin rebuilding from Oct. 7 ashes". Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
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