Be'eri massacre

On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Gazan militants and civilian looters attacked the kibbutz, killing and abducting civilians while facing resistance from armed residents. Israeli security forces regained control by the evening of October 8. A total of 101 Israeli civilians and 31 security personnel were killed and 32 hostages were taken from the kibbutz. At least 100 Gazan militants were also killed and 18 were captured.

Among the civilians killed were women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver), children, and one infant, claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. A total of 125 homes in the community were damaged or destroyed. This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other massacres and military engagements in multiple neighbouring Israeli communities, including Netiv haAsara, Kfar Aza, and the Rei'm music festival massacre. Several newspapers described the massacre as an act of terrorism, with CNN describing it as "the symbol of Hamas’ brutality."

A few early claims regarding the attack, including that twenty children had been burned to death with their hands bound, that a pregnant woman had had her belly sliced open and her fetus killed, and that two teenagers were raped, were later found to be untrue. Hostages were taken, leading to a stand-off with the Israel Defense Forces. Relatives of some of those killed have demanded a probe into potential deaths of some of these hostages from friendly fire, including one incident in which an Israeli tank fired at a house full of hostages.