‘It is not a war. It’s a massacre’: Horror at ‘pure evil beheading of babies’

Hamas leader talks about global takeover in resurfaced video

Barbaric Hamas terrorists beheaded babies and slaughtered 40 children in just one settlement, Israel claimed last night. Major General Itai Veruv alleged that whole families were butchered in their homes in Kfar Aza by raiders from Gaza.

The Israel Defence Forces commander said: “You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers, in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms and how the terrorist kills them. It’s not a war. It’s not a battlefield. It’s a massacre.”

Israeli soldiers reportedly found the bodies of 40 youngsters as they regained control of the kibbutz.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israel and during retaliatory strikes on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza since hundreds of heavily-armed terrorists launched their land, sea and air onslaught at the weekend.

The conflict continued yesterday as Hamas fired salvoes of rockets at the southern Israeli port of Ashkelon, apparently in revenge for the airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

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Terrorist chiefs had warned residents to flee by 5pm and the first missiles soared over the border shortly afterwards. Most were downed by Israel’s Iron Dome defence missile system but some made it through and smashed into buildings as civilians ran to shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Another Hamas rocket barrage hit central Israel, killing two residents in Tel Aviv. The bodies of 1,500 gunmen were recovered on Israeli territory, underlining the scale of the assault.

Israel, which has declared it is at war with Hamas, is believed to be preparing a large-scale ground offensive into the sealed-off Gaza Strip to eliminate the terrorists’ forces, bases and weapons.

There are growing fears the conflict might spark a wider Middle East conflagration. Iranian leaders celebrated the massacres in Israel, described by the US as “Isis-level savagery”.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin blamed the US, saying it wanted to “monopolise” international peace efforts, while America in turn warned Tehran and other rogue regimes to keep out of the war.

President Joe Biden condemned “sheer evil” Hamas – at least 14 US citizens are thought to have been murdered by the group.

He warned: “Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear. Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back.

“We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself, today, tomorrow, as we always have. It’s as simple as that. Anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word: Don’t.”

Colonel Richard Kemp, the decorated former British Army commander and Afghanistan war hero, said: “Countries like Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Qatar will be working behind the scenes to bring about a ceasefire, as they have done in the past. But it won’t work this time.

“With the brutal murders of hundreds of Israeli people on the streets and the abduction of so many others, Israel will have to go on to the end, with the objective of destroying the terrorist groups in Gaza, the West Bank and perhaps even Lebanon. We are in for a long and very painful campaign.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, America, France, Germany, and Italy have all pledged support and said Israel had an absolute right to defend itself.

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The White House said there was no intention to dispatch US troops to the region, but in a message aimed squarely at Tehran and its totalitarian Islamic regime, warned Iran and others to stay away.

Washington has moved aircraft carriers, including its largest including USS Gerald Ford, and warships closer to Israel in a show of support and is working on “hostage recovery” plans with Jerusalem.

The brutal murder spree undertaken by Palestinian fundamentalists at the weekend was an atrocity two years in the planning and now widely accepted to have been sponsored and funded by Iran.

Israel said the porous border with Gaza, through which hundreds of masked and armed attackers slipped, had now been sealed. A “truly terrifying” revenge strike on the enclave is imminent.

In response Hamas warned Israelis to leave Ashkelon – or face certain death – as it seeks reprisals for the relentless pounding of the Gaza strip.

The militants are now planning to broadcast footage of Israeli hostage executions after threatening a major rocket attack on the port city.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said savage “war crimes” would not be forgiven, adding: “We have only started striking Hamas. What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”

In Gaza and the West Bank, the two Hamas-controlled Palestinian territories, 800 have been killed. Several thousand have been wounded on both sides with many more displaced.

Saturday’s audacious attack has left a death toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria. The atrocity sparked global revulsion after insurgents tore through towns and villages, slaughtering innocent civilians and torching homes. At least 10 Britons and 11 US citizens are among the dead.

The rapid air, land and sea strike prompted a guarantee of furious vengeance from Israel’s hard-right government. So far the state has embarked on a series of ferocious air strikes, but a huge ground-led invasion is imminent.

Mr Netanyahu warned: “Israel is at war. We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it. Once, the Jewish people were stateless. Once, the Jewish people were defenceless. No longer.

“Hamas will understand that by attacking us, they have made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come.

“The savage attacks that Hamas perpetrated against innocent Israelis are mind boggling: slaughtering families in their homes, massacring hundreds of young people at an outdoor festival, kidnapping scores of women, children and elderly, even Holocaust survivors. Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS.”

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007, has threatened to execute captured Israelis if its terrorises continue to be pounded. It is thought to be holding at least 150 soldiers and civilians hostage.

Israel regained effective control of its breached border on Tuesday after a dawn raid caught its much-vaunted military and intelligence machine off guard.

Thousands of Hamas targets have been eliminated and neighbourhoods reduced to rubble after a series of air strikes. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians have been killed.

Israel has already ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off electricity, fuel and food for 2.3 million living in one of the most densely-populated areas on earth.

The four-day conflict has now claimed at least 1,600 lives with Israel witnessing gun battles in the streets for the first time in decades.

A chilling statement issued by the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said: “Every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages.”

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, said it was in contact with Israel and the Palestinians and would seek to play a role in resolving the conflict. Hours later, Putin said America had for years wilfully ignored the interests of Palestinians and their need for an independent state.

President Joe Biden said: “We now know at least 11 American citizens were among those killed – many of whom made a second home in Israel. We believe it is likely American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”

Mr Sunak called the slaughter, timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, also known as the Arab–Israeli War, “barbaric acts of evil”, describing Hamas as “not militants, not freedom fighters, but terrorists”.

He said: “We stand in solidarity with Israel and the people of Israel in the face of these barbaric acts of terrorism. I remind everyone that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation.

“People should not be supporting Hamas and we will make sure we hold people to account if they are.”

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