At the Kfar Aza kibbutz, Israeli Defense Forces retrieved dead bodies from houses on Tuesday, with the stench of death wafting through the air, according to a Reuters report from the scene. Both Israelis and Hamas militants were among the dead.
“This is a massive terrorist attack targeting Israeli civilians, gunning people down in the streets of their towns, gunning them down in their homes, dragging Israelis—men, women, and children—across the border with Gaza,” U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. Israel has since bombarded Gaza with airstrikes, killing approximately 900 Gazans, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Tuesday. On Monday, an Israeli airstrike hit an open-air market in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, leaving 60 people dead, according to a Red Crescent volunteer,Israel is continuing to conduct “extensive strikes” against militants in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces said Tuesday evening.