The horrors of war have no limits. This was confirmed by the Israeli soldiers who arrived this Tuesday at the Kfar Asa kibbutz, where they found 40 murdered babies, some of them decapitated.. In this rural settlement, attacked by Hamas, hundreds of civilian and military bodies have also been found. This occurs in the midst of the escalation of the war, in which there is also once again crossfire between Israel and Lebanon and threats from Yemeni rebels to attack the Israeli state if the United States intervenes militarily in the Gaza Strip.
The journalists who were taken by the Israeli Army to Kibbutz Kfar Asa could not believe their eyes. Among the rubble and burned homes and cars lay hundreds of bodies, among which were babies.. “It's not a war, it's not a battlefield. “It is a massacre, it is a terrorist activity,” Israeli General Itai Veruv told reporters, Reuters reports.. Furthermore, the troops said, Hamas militants not only murdered the residents of the kibbutz, but also took dozens of people hostage.
This rural settlement is located less than five kilometers from where Iván Illarramendi lived, one of the two Spanish citizens who remain missing.. The whereabouts of Maya Villalobos is also unknown, whose family is dismayed by the lack of news.
Added to the tragic event in Kfar Asa is the discovery of 1,500 bodies of members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) near the border with the Gaza Strip.. “We are talking about terrorists who entered Israel,” said Israeli soldiers. These same sources reported that there had been no new infiltrations into Israeli territory during the last night.. According to the latest estimates, more than a thousand people have died in Israel and 2,600 have been injured, while in Palestine the death toll rises to 900 and the number of injuries is around 4,250.
However, during the afternoon of this Tuesday, hopeful news was also released: 30 Israelis who had disappeared after the Hamas attack carried out last Saturday were found alive. “Yesterday at 9:00 p.m. (local time) a distress call was received about a group of missing citizens. “The line personnel verified the details of the incident and were able to locate them,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.. The people were found near the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz.
Another day of crossfire
On this fourth day of war it was also reported that the Israeli army killed two senior Hamas officials. They are Yoad Abu Shmala, Minister of Economy of the Gaza Strip and member of Hamas; and Zacaría Abu Maamar, a senior official of the same organization and head of the internal relations department, said a statement from the press office of the Israeli forces.. The bombing continued throughout the afternoon, among which the attack on the Israeli city of Ashkelon and the attack on the Port of Gaza stood out.. Later, missiles were also fired from Lebanon towards Israel, attacks to which the latter responded with artillery fire.. At the last minute, Israel announced that it had also responded to projectile attacks coming from Syria.
In addition to the involvement of a third country in the conflict, there is also concern about the threat made by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.. Specifically, they stated that they would attack Israel with “missiles and drones” if the United States decided to intervene militarily in the war.. The group's leader also warned that they are in “continuous coordination” with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), as well as with the “axis of resistance,” referring to other movements such as Hezbollah.. For his part, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, stated that his country will provide Israel with everything it needs to defend itself.
Israel maintains suspicions about Iran's involvement in the attack carried out by Hamas, but the Iranian government denies it. “The enemy says that Iran is behind the operation and it is a mistake,” said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. However, the reality is that Iran is one of Hamas' main allies and that country celebrated the attack carried out by Hamas with fireworks. “We kiss the forehead and hands of the intelligent and skilled designers of this operation and the Palestinian youth, we are proud of them,” said the leader.
No place to go
This Monday, Israel ordered a total blockade in Gaza, so the Palestinian territory has been left without food, water, electricity and fuel.. As of this Tuesday, it has also been completely isolated by land, because Egypt has closed the Rafá border crossing, the only one that is not controlled by the Israeli state.. Most of the border crossings between Gaza and Israel were closed years ago and the territorial waters are under the control of the latter.. Gaza's airport was destroyed by Israel in 2001 and the Palestinian enclave's airspace is also under Israeli control.
The European Union has stated that “aid will continue” to Palestine.. According to Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, “We consider Hamas a terrorist group, but the Palestinian Authority is our ally. Not all the people of Palestine are terrorists.. Cutting off humanitarian aid to Palestine would be counterproductive,” he said.. Borrell also affirmed that Israel “has the right to defend itself” from the attacks it has received, but clarified that it must do so in accordance with International Law.