By Athena Papakosta

The BBC begins its report on the Kfar Aza kibbutz by saying that it is a microcosm representative of the first days of the war in Israel and of those, perhaps, to follow.

As explained by international media journalists who were at the scene, civilian bodies were lying on the ground. Next to them, burnt houses and torched cars.

Israeli armed forces approached the site late on Tuesday after fighting continued near Kfar Azza along the border with Gaza until early yesterday morning.

According to the first estimates, the massacre took place early Saturday morning, during the first hours of the bloody attack by Hamas.

According to the Israeli armed forces, people at that time were either sleeping or getting ready to start their day. No one imagined what happened.

Among the dead, infants, the elderly… entire families. Some of the victims were reportedly beheaded. One of them a woman, wrapped in a purple blanket from which her bare legs protruded.

The tragedy in Kfar Aza is also witnessed by the destroyed gate that led to the kibbutz as those who protected the settlement are also dead. Their bodies are wrapped in black plastic bags and placed side by side.

As of late Tuesday night, the Israeli army continued to locate and remove bodies.

Those living in the kibbutzim had accepted the risk of Hamas strikes and despite the threat enjoyed a good quality of life with the shelters only a few meters away and many of the residents’ homes having security rooms. But no one could have imagined what happened on the morning of October 7th.

Next to the bodies of the civilians, those of many of the Hamas gunmen were also found with the machines they used in the invasion scattered around.

Israel is experiencing a collective trauma after the death of so many of its citizens. But hundreds of civilians have been killed in Gaza as well. International humanitarian law explicitly states that warring parties must protect the lives of civilians.

While the journalists were in Kfar Azha, Hamas rocket fire sirens forced Israeli soldiers to take cover. Commands rang out over the radio. All were executed. In the distance, smoke still rose black over Gaza.

In a conversation of the journalist of the British network, Jeremy Bowen, with an Israeli soldier who wanted to preserve his anonymity, he answers that he never imagined that he would live something like this and that now he wishes for the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza to begin. “We are ready,” he emphasizes.