Israel said it had largely secured the Gaza border and was evacuating nearby towns where the bodies of 1,500 Hamas militants had been recovered by Tuesday after days of gruelling battles outside the Palestinian enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israel’s military campaign following Saturday’s surprise onslaught was only the start of a sustained war to destroy Hamas and “change the Middle East”.

Fears of a regional conflagration have surged amid expectations of a looming Israeli ground incursion into Gaza, the crowded enclave from where Hamas launched its land, air and sea attack on the Jewish Sabbath.

The death toll in Israel has surged above 900 from the worst attack in the country’s 75-year history, while Gaza officials have reported 687 people killed so far.

Hamas gunmen massacred more than 100 people in the kibbutz of Beeri alone, said Moti Bukjin, a volunteer with the charity Zaka that recovers bodies in accordance with Jewish law.

      • PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        There’s been plenty of references in the tabloid media today of babies decapitated or otherwise mutilated by Hamas in the attack on Kfar Aza

        I’m holding out for a more reputable source like reuters to explicitly say it though.

        I have personally seen convincing videos/pictures of Hamas (targeting/having targeted) civilian cars (Which as far as your average Hamas militant is concerned could contain children), The elderly at bus stations, Young women. So extending that list of atrocities to include baby murder doesn’t seem that far fetched

        • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Oh I don’t doubt it. But that’s the thing with Hamas: they do enough bad stuff that people will believe anything of them. So they can be awful and still also the subject of fog of war lies at the same time.

          I’m concerned with the hysteria I see around them. They behead babies! They rape women on top of piles of dead bodies! Because that hysteria is designed to ready the world to excuse absolutely anything Israel might do next.

          And let’s face it: Israel kills a lot of kids too. And they have a hell of a lot more power to kill kids than Hamas.