Near Sderot, Israel — Israeli emergency responders with years of experience doing the grim work of recovering bodies broke down in tears Wednesday as they told CBS News what they'd witnessed in the aftermath of Hamas' brutal terror attack on Israel. The depth of the horror unleashed by Hamas Saturday on Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip was still emerging five days later.
After finally wresting back control of the small farming community of the Kfar Aza kibbutz, Israeli security forces discovered the aftermath of what a military spokesperson said could only be described as "a massacre."
Residents were murdered wherever the Hamas gunmen found them on the kibbutz, a type of communal living enclave unique to Israel, witnesses have said.
"We see blood spread out in homes. We've found bodies of people who have been butchered," said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Maj. Libby Weiss. "The depravity of it is haunting."
Weiss told CBS News that more than one of the Israeli soldiers who first reached Kfar Aza reported finding "beheaded children of varying ages, ranging from babies to slightly older children," along with adults who had also been dismembered.
Yossi Landau, the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka, Israel's volunteer civilian emergency response organization, told CBS News he saw with his own eyes children and babies who had been beheaded.
"I saw a lot more that cannot be described for now, because it's very hard to describe," he said, speaking of parents and children found with their hands bound and clear signs of torture.
Israel is accustomed to living in close proximity to its enemies, but the last four days have shocked the nation and shaken its sense of security.
Yehuda Gottlieb, a dual U.S.-Israeli national who works as a first responder, was outside the Be'eri kibbutz, another small farming community, as Israel's security forces battled the militants over the weekend. Security camera video shows the gunmen breaking into the compound and opening fire on its defenseless residents. Israel says more than 100 people were killed in that community alone.
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