Warning: The following story contains details some readers may find distressing
Babies were reportedly among the victims of Hamas gunmen in the Israeli border kibbutz Kfar Azza over the weekend.
The community was the site of intense fighting after Hamas broke through the border wire from Gaza.
Thousands have been made homeless, with the United Nations now warning of a humanitarian crisis. (Source: 1News)
The BBC reports the Israeli army took 12 hours to get to the kibbutz, which was home to over 700 people. Soldiers are now recovering the bodies of civilians.
"Thank God we saved many lives of many parents and children," Davidi Ben Zion of the Israeli army told the broadcaster.
"Unfortunately, some were burned by Molotov [cocktails]. They are very aggressive, like animals."
Ben Zion said families and babies were among the dead; the victims of a "jihad machine".
He said some of those killed were decapitated.
"They killed them and cut some of their heads, it's a dreadful thing to see," Ben Zion said.
The BBC reports the site "adds to the considerable evidence that is accumulating of war crimes by Hamas gunmen".
The broadcaster also noted that hundreds of civilians are being killed in Gaza as well.
Humanitarian law states combatants must protect the lives of civilians, the BBC said.
The Associated Press reports "the smell of death hangs thick" in the kibbutz, and noted the bodies of about 20 militants remained.
A paraglider and motorcycles lay near bodies along with unexploded hand grenades and a Hamas flag.
"You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms and how the terrorists killed," Major General Itay Veruz said.
"It's not a battlefield. It's a massacre."
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