The Hamas-led attack on Southern Israel on 7 October
2023 was one of the largest terror attacks in history,
resulting in 1,182 fatalities and over 4,000 wounded. A
total of 251 hostages were taken - 210 were alive and 41
were dead bodies.6
It was the largest single massacre
of Jewish people since the Holocaust, and the deadliest
per capita terrorist attack, with just over 1 in every
10,000 Israelis killed, and the third overall deadliest
terrorist attack in the world to date.
A total of 863 civilians were killed on 7 October,
accounting for 73% of the dead. 8
The remaining 27%
of fatalities were those serving in active duty – either in
the military or as first responders.9
Women and children
account for 27% of those killed during the attacks and
49% of hostages taken alive – 316 and 102 respectively.
The youngest victim of 7 October was just 14 hours old
– her mother had been shot whilst driving to the hospital
to give birth and a bullet hit the baby girl’s leg whilst in
utero. The oldest victim was a 92-year-old Holocaust
survivor, who was killed at Kibbutz Holit.
The victims were killed through shootings, asphyxiation,
burning, grenade explosions, RGP and missile attacks.
Many victims were subjected to mutilation, sexual
violence, and other forms of deliberate brutality before
or after death. Forensic teams faced immense challenges
in identifying remains due to the extent of desecration to
bodies, with some victims identified months later through
fragments like teeth.
Hamas orchestrated and led the attack, with 3,800
of its elite Nukhba forces and members of Izz al-Din
Al-Qassam Brigades invading Southern Israel. They
were supported by 2,200 individuals from other armed
groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and
civilians from Gaza. A further 1,000 individuals stayed
in Gaza to operate rocket launchers and provide tactical
support.
The perpetrators documented their actions on the
day, through GoPro body cameras and mobile phones.
They live-streamed and recorded their actions,
uploading them to social media sites like Telegram.
The Hamas-led attack began with an unprecedented
barrage of rockets, aimed at southern Israel and the
larger metropolises across the country. This was
followed by 119 breaches in the border fence between
the Gaza Strip and Israel over the course of the
attack, and simultaneous incursions by air and sea.
Hamas-led forces attacked 32 civilian communities -
Kibbutzim and Moshavim - in Israel's Gaza Envelope,
killing 416 in a matter of hours. Of the 251 total
hostages taken during the attack, 183 were from
these villages.
Once the border had been penetrated, the attacking
forces breached community defences and caused
widespread destruction. Kibbutzim such as Be’eri, Kfar
Aza, and Nir Oz were the worst affected. Be’eri and
Kfar Aza experienced the highest death tolls, with 99
and 62 civilians killed respectively.13 Nir Oz saw the
most kidnappings, with 75 people taken hostage,
alongside 7 abducted bodies.
The communities were
attacked by Hamas, other armed groups, and Gazan
civilians. They destroyed homes, committed atrocities,
systematically looted, and set fire to properties. Fierce
battles ensued at some locations, with some areas
only reclaimed by Israeli forces on the evening of 7
October and others remained contested for days.
By 11 October, 89% of the communities in the Gaza
Envelope had been evacuated, displacing tens of
thousands of people.
Hamas-led forces also launched coordinated attacks
on three cities in the western Negev: Sderot, Ofakim,
and Netivot, which resulted in 88 fatalities.
The Nova Music Festival, held near Kibbutz Re’im,
became the deadliest site of the attacks, with over 370
people killed, most of them young attendees under 30
years old.
The death toll made the attack on the festival “the
deadliest concert attack in history.”14
At the festival site
those who stayed were gunned down in their hiding
places under the stage, behind the bar, in mobile
toilets and waste containers. About 50 to 60% did not
die at the festival site itself but were killed as they fled
the attack. Many were ambushed in their cars with
automatic weapons fire and RPGs or were killed by
grenades thrown into roadside rocket shelters where
they had sought safety along the highway. Others were
shot in fields, wooded areas, or stretches of desert as
they fled the party site on foot.
Hamas operatives strategically seized key junctions
along Route 232, the main highway in the Gaza
Envelope. The highway killings took place at more
than 30 separate locations, primarily at 3 major road
junctions and in roadside rocket shelters along Route
232.
