As the world sets its sights on the unprecedented surprise Hamas attack against Israel, emerging details of just how gruesome their tactics were have left many in the international community in complete shock over the “unimaginable horror” perpetrated against hundreds of innocent civilians, each with their own harrowing ordeal.
(Warning: Graphic content below.)
On Saturday, Hamas’ multiple-pronged attack saw the Gaza-based terror group resorting to abuse, executions, and kidnappings of men, women, children and, at times, full families and even an elderly Holocaust survivor. None were spared.
In southern towns, the terrorists went door-to-door shooting Jews and burning homes with families within, proceeding to murder soldiers and infants alike, all while thousands of rockets rained down on Israeli civilian centers.
While the exact number of individuals abducted remains unclear, Hamas terrorists have claimed more than 100, and one senior Israeli military official shared a preliminary assessment that at least 150 Israelis were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorists.
Of the hostages, several are reported to be American, with the White House confirming that over 20 Americans are still unaccounted for in Israel.
Hamas has since threatened to execute captives on live television.
Countless accounts from the attacks, which have been described as reminiscent of the Nazi era, have revealed the hideous atrocities that victims faced.
Chicago native Natalie Raanan, 18, is one of the U.S. citizens taken to Gaza and being held hostage by Hamas. She and her mother were both kidnapped while visiting family.
She is one of 20 missing Americans, with 22 others reportedly killed.
“I’m just devastated by it. It’s just very sad,” said Kurt Jung, a neighbor of her mother. “I think it’s sadder knowing they might be held captive.”
Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein of Evanston expressed his fears that the two may undergo torture or be killed.
“Her eyes always glowed,” he said about the mother, whom he has known for 15 years.
18-year-old Natalie Raanan from Chicago is one of the U.S. citizens taken to Gaza and held hostage by Hamas.
She and her mother Judith were both kidnapped while visiting family members.
🇺🇸🇱 pic.twitter.com/4KE297tFLA
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 10, 2023
On Saturday, Abbey Onn, an American citizen who had been living in Israel for eight years, hid in a safe room with her three grandchildren and son-in-law while Hamas terrorists invaded Kibbutz Nir Oz, threw smoke grenades into homes trying to lure residents out, and eventually set everything on fire.
The next day, a colleague spotted one of the children, Onn’s second cousin Erez Kalderon, in footage reposted by an influencer showing the 12-year-old being manhandled and dragged towards an opening in the border’s fence by armed terrorists.
“I burst into tears. I started shaking,” Onn said. “I’m a mother of three. This is just every parent’s worst nightmare.”
He and his entire family are still unaccounted for.
This is Erez Kalderon, an Israeli boy. He is 12 years old.
Erez is missing, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, after they invaded Kibbutz Nir Oz and set everything on fire.
Erez and his entire family are unaccounted for.
Please SHARE so the world knows and demands their return! pic.twitter.com/MeHCrePB5v
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 10, 2023
Erez’s sister, Gaya, told Sky News: “I was terrified to wake up on Saturday morning and receive messages like ‘the terrorists are in my bedroom’ and my 16-year-old sister writing [to] me: ‘I’m so scared.’”
One mother, Shiri, was seen being taken captive along with her husband, her elderly parents, and her two sons, a three year old and a nine month old, as horrified onlookers shouted: “She has a baby.”
This is Shiri with her 2 children Kfir, 9 mo old & Ariel, 3 yrs old. They were brutally abducted yesterday from their home in Kibbutz Nir- Oz.
Her husband Yarden, together with her two parents Yossi & Margit, were also kidnapped & brought to Gaza.Margit is sick & needs meds. pic.twitter.com/EyU1CNEWIS— Deborah Turnley (@WolfsMuse) October 8, 2023
There is also footage of a terrified Israeli family being held hostage by Hamas terrorists after they killed one of the daughters. As the children begin to cry, a male voice off camera, believed to be one of their captors, tells them to relax, adding: “She went to heaven.”
Terrified Israeli family being held hostage by Hamas terrorists after they killed one of the sisters of the little girl. #hamasattack #kidnapped #IsrealUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/QGklOWmh0K
— Lapson Luu (@LapsonLuu) October 8, 2023
Adi Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old Canadian citizen, was abducted from Kibbutz Holit and taken from her children, aged four months and four years. She remains missing in the aftermath of the attack, according to her neighbor Avitel Aladjem.
“They blew up the door… my neighbor was murdered… all around there’s destruction, ruins, and blood.“
Horrifying testimony of a woman and children who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to the Gaza Strip.#hamasisisis#dontlookaway pic.twitter.com/8dQqw2g1ba
— 🇱Jonathan Elkhoury- جوناثان الخوري🇱 (@Jonathan_Elk) October 9, 2023
One emotional father described speaking on the phone with his two daughters when he heard the shouting terrorists spraying bullets, followed by the phone call ending.
His 2 daughters got kidnapped by the scum of the earth – Hamas Palestinian Terrorists. Please listen to him.
Share. #gaza #israel #Israelunderattack pic.twitter.com/64mwHPtOho
— Ella Travels (@EllaTravelsLove) October 8, 2023
Another child, Abigail, watched as her parents were murdered in cold blood. She was subsequently kidnapped by Hamas and is being held in Gaza.
Abigail is yet another Israeli child kidnapped by Hamas and being held in Gaza.
Her parents were murdered by Hamas as she watched. Family members are begging for help returning this little girl. pic.twitter.com/PXGaF2DTwZ
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 9, 2023
More footage shows parents and little children forced by armed Hamas terrorists on to pickup trucks and driven away to Gaza as the terrorists chant “Allahu Akhbar” (Allah is great).
More than 50 Israeli mothers, babies, man were kidnapped by Hamas today from Israel and brutally taken into the Gaza Strip.
This could be your mother pic.twitter.com/yWY7E8UwHB
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023
Noa Argamani, aged 25, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists while attending a peace music festival and was dragged on a motorcycle from Israel into Gaza as she pleaded for help.
Her father, Yaacov, struggled as he told reporters that his only child is both sweet and loving. “Please, please, I beg you, don’t hurt her,” he said in a message to his daughter’s captors.
Her boyfriend, Avinatan, was also seen being led away by another group of men and is presumed to have been kidnapped.
Noa was partying in the south of Israel in a peace music festival when Hams terrorists kidnapped her and dragged her from Israel into Gaza.
Noa is held hostage by Hamas.
She could be your daughter, sister, friend.#BringBackOurFamily pic.twitter.com/gi2AStVdTQ
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023
In a highly disturbing incident, Hamas terrorists took Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old wheelchair-bound Holocaust survivor, to Gaza at gunpoint. Begging for her release, her granddaughter explained that she suffers “a lot of pain” without her medication.
Holocaust survivor in wheelchair among those abducted by Hamas and taken to Gaza. https://t.co/2UvqkbVBxy pic.twitter.com/6WeoZpp180
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) October 8, 2023
Hamas terrorists also livestreamed an entire family being held hostage to their Facebook so their friends and relatives could watch their final moments. They then forced the son at gunpoint to persuade neighbors to leave their homes. They have not been seen since.
Hamas terrorists LIVE STREAM an entire family being held hostage to the families Facebook so their friends & relatives can watch their final moments.
The family and their children are seen being held at gun point.
They have not been seen since.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) October 11, 2023
Vivian Silver, 74, the founder and director of a pro-peace NGO, was also kidnapped by the terrorists, despite having dedicated her life to improving the plight of Palestinians.
“She is somebody who has always, always worked for what she believes in, and she believes in peace and a shared society in Israel,” said Lynne Mitchell, a friend of Silver’s. “She went there for that purpose when she was very young and has remained true to that her whole life.”
This is the story of the Canadian/Israeli Vivian Silver a peace activist in @WomenWagePeace that was kidnapped into Gaza.
She dedicated her life to peace and cooperation as the head of Negev institute (NISPED). #HamasisISIS @JustinTrudeau @Canada @AmbCanIsrael pic.twitter.com/w2n6KXz7gf
— Ohad Zemet (@OhadZemet) October 11, 2023
In addition, over 1,000 civilians were slaughtered during the unprecedented attacks that saw children executed before their parents, while parents were executed in front of their children.
No words. #HamasISIS pic.twitter.com/Of9zU1SbY3
— Israel ישראל 🇱 (@Israel) October 11, 2023
One clip shows four Israeli hostages killed by Hamas shortly after their capture.
One survivor described being holed up in a shelter with dozens more when Hamas terrorists tossed grenades inside. His friend, who was suffocating, tried to escape but she was shot point blank and killed by one of the terrorists who continued to spray the room with bullets.
A survivor telling his story after Hamas butchered his friend and people around him. pic.twitter.com/JHA7FAdb4K
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) October 10, 2023
Distressing dashcam footage has also surfaced, revealing Hamas terrorists firing upon music festival attendees at point-blank range and plundering their possessions amidst the chaos.
Sickening dashcam video shows Nova festival-goers shot at point-blank range by Hamas terrorists clad in bullet-proof vests and armed with automatic rifles pic.twitter.com/3hwl3fZ61J
— News News News (@NewsNew97351204) October 10, 2023
More clips of point blank executions have also emerged.
In one instance, an entire family of five — three generations — were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz after taking shelter in a safe room.
“What type of lowly people kill babies with their parents? It is so hard to think that you are no longer. My heart is with your parents, your siblings, and Johnny’s family,” one family friend said.
Remember their names. Tamar, Yonatan and their children Shachar (6), Arbel (6), Omer (4) were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz. An entire family vanished from the face of the earth. More than 700 Israelis were massacred by Hamas terrorists and the death… pic.twitter.com/Kdkf1mI6w8
— Elad Strohmayer (@EladStr) October 8, 2023
After the Israeli army entered Kfar Aza, a village close to the Gaza border, they reportedly found scenes of “unimaginable horror,” including the lifeless bodies of 40 slaughtered babies and children with entire families burned alive in their homes.
Reports of Israeli soldiers discovering dozens of dead babies have also been reported.
“I’m talking to some of the soldiers and they say what they’ve witnessed as they’ve been walking through these different houses, these different communities,” i24news correspondent Nicole Zedeck recounted.
“Babies, their heads cut off. That’s what they said,” she recalled. “Gunned down families — completely gunned down in their beds.”
40 Israeli babies, murdered.
They are not just statistics; they were new souls, full of potential, brutally stolen from their families by vicious terrorists.
Hamas’ barbaric cruelty knows no bounds.
The world must know the truth and stand together against this terrorism. https://t.co/Oj7sq4VDce
— Ted Deutch, CEO of American Jewish Committee (@AJCCEO) October 10, 2023
Other footage of families reportedly burned alive in their vehicles have also emerged.
The attacks also saw “barbaric” acts of young females being raped, while others’ bodies paraded in the streets of the coastal enclave to cheering crowds who further abused and spit on the victims.
According to eyewitness accounts of the festival massacre, “women were raped at the area of the rave next to their friends bodies, dead bodies.”
Numerous assault victims seem to have subsequently faced execution, with others being transported to Gaza. In images shared on the internet, some can be seen being marched through the city streets, visibly bleeding between their legs.
In a video obtained by Reuters, a woman is pulled barefoot from the trunk of a Jeep by a gunman and then forced into the backseat of the car by Hamas militants in Gaza. More than 100 hostages are believed to have been taken by Hamas militants. pic.twitter.com/kP9sQfFPZn
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 9, 2023
An interrogation of one Hamas operative revealed that the terrorists had set their sights on women, teenagers, and children in order to rape them.
Footage released from an interrogation of capture Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel. He admits that the Hamas terrorists fully intended to rape Israeli women who were captured.
To anyone denying or minimizing the barbarity of Hamas? Stop gaslighting the Jewish people. pic.twitter.com/0TdXOAZfgX
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 11, 2023
On Monday, Breitbart News reported that families of several kidnap and murder victims from Hamas’ savage attack over the weekend have reported the terrorists using the cell phones and social media accounts of their victims to send them graphic photos and taunting text messages.
One girl, Mor Bayder, said Hamas uploaded a graphic photo taken with her slain grandmother’s phone — of her grandmother’s corpse to her own Facebook account on Saturday morning.
“A terrorist came home to her, killed her, took her phone, filmed the horror and published it on her Facebook wall. This is how we found out,” Bayder said. “The purest thing in the world, the light of my life, my whole world, my grandmother, this can’t be real.”
#ChiTaliban-backed Hamas terrorists kidnapped a bedridden elderly man and his caregiver, showed off the results online like a trophy. pic.twitter.com/RwKypItjQL
— Northrop Gundam ∀ 捍禦の大佐 🇱 (@GundamNorthrop) October 9, 2023
Footage of celebrations of the savagery have been documented as well.
In one of many instances, Palestinian residents of the Jenin area were seen celebrating while holding rocket fragments believed to be from Gaza.
Jenin, West Bank: Palestinians celebrate following the invasion of southern Israel by Hamas-led armed groups. pic.twitter.com/ynNajbDpvz
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 7, 2023
Palestinians celebrate after capturing an Israeli occupation tank pic.twitter.com/p2pla5zouW
— • (@Alhamdhulillaah) October 7, 2023
Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, said on Monday evening in a press conference that Hamas’ actions constitute “an evil that’s not created even by the devil.”
“I think that in the last decades, I don’t think that we saw such things, maybe only in ISIS what they did,” he said. “ISIS did it to men and woman, but to take an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair captive. Even between the war between Russia and Ukraine, we did not see murdering entire families.”
Such “vicious and evil” was only seen with the Nazis and possibly with ISIS, according to the minister.
“Hamas executed an historical massacre that the world will not forget,” he added.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.