Fox News reporter Trey Yingst has seen war before. But he said nothing — not even the savagery of the war in Ukraine — prepared him for the ghastly sights of kibbutz Be’eri in Israel, where he videoed the aftermath of the Hamas slaughter of civilians that took place on Saturday.
In a graphic video that showed bloodstained floors and body bags that gave silent witness to the scale of the tide of sudden death that ripped through the small community, Yingst described what he called a “massacre against Israelis” on Wednesday on Fox News.
He choked back tears as he recounted scenes of houses ready for breakfasts that the dead would never eat and refrigerators with pictures of children massacre victims would never see again.
Yingst said Be’eri was “littered with bodies” as he showed one bullet-riddled home.
“It is completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings were hit by RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], explosives,” he said of the community, noting that he saw “beds covered in blood.”
“It is hell on earth,” he said.
Yingst said that as reporters drove into Be’eri, they passed the site of a music festival where more than 250 people were killed.
“You could smell the stench of death in the air on the drive, and as we got closer to this kibbutz, where so many families were slaughtered in their homes, it became obvious that we didn’t even have a full grasp of what took place here,” he said.
He said that outside the entrance of Be’eri, there was “a large pile of bodies” of Hamas terrorists killed by Israeli forces who clawed back the communities in battles that took place earlier this week.
WARNING: The following video has graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.
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Yingst relayed comments from an Israeli commander who saw the horrors of Be’eri, which included decapitated civilians and others killed with their hands tied behind their backs.
He called the house he had videoed “the most horrific thing I have ever seen.”
“It is a house of horror behind me, and the entire neighborhood looks like this,” the Fox News reporter said, noting that the kibbutz suffered more than 100 people killed out of a pre-slaughter population of roughly 1,000.
We entered the town of Be’eri with the Israeli army. 10% of the community was slaughtered by Hamas. A Major General told us on-camera that people were found without heads. Others with hands tied behind their backs. Don’t look away. pic.twitter.com/1bva9ilLwz
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 11, 2023
“They came into this community and they slaughtered children,” he said.
Israeli paramedic Hami Atias said what he witnessed in Be’eri was like nothing he had seen before, according to Reuters.
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“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,” he said.
“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,” Atias said, recounting the scene when he arrived.
One Israeli commander sought to put the scene into perspective.
“Just like Auschwitz is the symbol of the Holocaust, Be’eri will be the symbol of this pogrom,” Maj. Doron Spielman of the Israel Defense Forces said, according to the Times of Israel.
Eli Hazan, a volunteer who hailed from Rhode Island, recounted one scene.
“Yesterday, we saw a list taped to the door of the safe room in the house,” Hazan said. “I guess one of the parents made it, a list of things to prepare. Toothbrush, sandwiches, all kinds of stuff. And on the bottom, it said, ‘A hug from Imma [mom].’
“And there was blood all over that piece of paper.”