Brutal Hamas terrorist attack scar Israel's kibbutz dwellers

Over the course of his 21-year career treating victims of violent assaults, natural disasters, and war injuries, Israeli paramedic Hami Atias has witnessed a great deal of blood and death. However, the scene he encountered over the weekend on a green kibbutz close to Gaza will never leave him. As part of a larger assault that was the bloodiest Palestinian terrorist attack on Israel in history, Atias was one of the first responders who went into Beeri in southern Israel after a raid by Hamas. “I thought I’d seen enough but nothing could prepare me for what happened there. The smell of bodies - as many times as I’ve showered this week - I can’t get that smell out,” the 36-year-old Atias told Reuters on his way back from Beeri. Atias claimed to have seen the bodies of numerous people who had been shot or bombed by terrorists. “There were bodies lying on the street in huge quantities, wounded people screaming for help, and we had to decide who to treat because we didn’t have enough manpower,” he said. “It was disgusting.” On the kibbutz’s grass on Wednesday night, rows of white body bags contained dead bodies. At least 100 people were slain in Beeri by the terrorists, according to Israeli media. Numerous Hamas terrorists were allegedly killed in the Beeri region, according to the Israeli military. A barrage of rockets and assaults by terrorist teams on kibbutzes and communities in southern Israel around the blockaded Gaza Strip, which the terrorist organisation controls, were part of the surprise Hamas offensive on Saturday. Terrorist violence between Israel and the Palestinians has drastically increased as a result of the attack. In retaliation, Israel attacked Gaza, killing more than 1,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, amid fears of a possible ground invasion against Hamas. The Israeli military reports that 1,200 Israelis have died as a result of the Hamas offensive, while more than 2,700 have been injured. One of the first communities attacked by Hamas was Beeri, an agricultural kibbutz three miles from Gaza that once accommodated farm workers from Gaza and still helps the families it has come into contact with. According to witnesses and family members, terrorists abducted children and elderly people in addition to killing everybody they came across. (With agency inputs)