Israel admits failure in protecting Kibbutz Beeri
The Kibbutz Beeri was heavily hit by the terrorist massacre of Hamas on October 7th. Over 100 residents were killed, and another 30 were abducted to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has admitted in a report to serious errors and oversights in response to the militant-Islamist Hamas attack on October 7th of last year.
In a report, the Israeli military acknowledged errors in their reaction to the attack on Kibbutz Beeri on October 7th of the previous year, which initiated the Gaza War. The troops were slow to respond and failed to communicate effectively among themselves, according to the report summarizing the findings of the initial investigation into the terror attack. However, no Israeli hostages were killed during a tank attack on the house in Beeri.
"The fighting in the area was characterized in the initial hours by a lack of command and control, as well as a lack of coordination and order among the various forces," the report stated. "This led to a series of incidents where the security forces gathered at the entrance of the kibbutz and did not immediately engage in the fighting."
Beeri, located only a few kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip, was one of the communities where extremists wreaked the most havoc on the morning of October 7th. Over 100 people were killed and another 30 were abducted. The kibbutz was also the site of a hostage situation, with extremists holding people captive in a house. Survivors reported that a tank had shot at the house, raising fears that the 13 hostages inside the house were killed by Israeli military fire.
After the investigation, the military declared that approximately 340 Hamas fighters had overrun the kibbutz, and most of the hostages were killed by the extremists. However, it was unclear how the military arrived at this conclusion. The investigators found that no civilians inside the building were injured by tank shells, but two Israeli civilians were hit by shrapnel outside the building. One civilian died according to his wife's account.
"I don't believe the report"
The report acknowledged that there were extensive failures on that day. The army had failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Beeri, it stated. "The bravery of the residents of Beeri and the members of the civil crisis response team of the kibbutz is commendable and was crucial in stabilizing the defense line in the first hours of the battle."
Residents of Beeri received the report with mixed feelings. They expressed anger over the military's failure, but also welcomed the fact that it had taken responsibility. Meir Sarbiv, whose brother and sister were killed on October 7th, called the report a deception by the army. "I don't believe the report, and I don't believe anything about it," he said.
He still couldn't understand why the army took almost four hours to reach the kibbutz and then delayed the intervention further at the entrance gate. "I just can't believe what happened here. I have no explanation for it," he said. "Where was the army?"
In a statement, the Kibbutz described the investigation as thorough and stated that it had helped in understanding the complexity of the fights on that day. "We consider it very important that the army takes responsibility and asks for forgiveness for its complete failure to protect us, and for leaving us alone for hours during an unprecedented evil attack," it said. The Kibbutz demanded an official state commission of inquiry into the general failures of October 7.
The military has launched several investigations into the errors on that day; the director of the military intelligence service resigned. Several other commanders apologized.
The attack, during which several thousand extremists from Hamas and other groups participated, cost the lives of around 1200 people. According to Hamas' statements, during the Israeli offensive that was launched in response to the attack, over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.
The investigation revealed that the Israeli military acknowledged their mistakes in responding to the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Beeri, which triggered the Israel-Gaza War, highlighting communication and coordination issues among their forces. Meir Sarbiv, a resident who lost family members in the attack, expressed skepticism towards the report, questioning the army's delayed response and lack of immediate action.
