[1][2] Among the civilians killed were women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver),[13] children,[5] and one infant,[14][15][16][17] claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents.

"[23] 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.

[12][31] The Hamas force targeting Be'eri consisted of militants belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades' Nuseirat Battalion led by Abed al-Rahman.

Amid a heavy rocket barrage, Hamas fighters broke through the border barrier into Israel, attacking civilian communities and military bases.

Meanwhile, Ilan Weiss, the deputy commander of the security team who lived on the western side of the kibbutz, was killed by militants as he headed towards the armory.

They also abducted 32 people of whom 30 were kibbutz residents and two were civilians who had sought refuge there after fleeing the Re'im music festival massacre, taking them to the Gaza Strip.

In one instance, a resident built a makeshift locking device out of ropes and a baseball bat and gripped it throughout the time he and his family spent in the safe room.

WhatsApp was used to advise occupants and share safehouses, but it also turned increasingly desperate as mentions of deaths of family members and a dead baby surfaced.

The failure to continue fighting alongside the residents was later found by the IDF investigation to represent poor decision-making and a serious professional error.

The Shaldag and Sayeret Matkal forces subsequently pushed into the kibbutz from opposite sides to clear out militants and rescue civilians.

According to the IDF investigation, the troops were careful not to open fire unless directly engaged in battle with militants, fearing the possibility of hitting civilians.

According to a reconstruction of events by Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, published in June 2024, at 12:56 PM, about 40 militants broke into the home of Pessi Cohen, killing a civilian and wounding another.

[1] As the two tanks arrived at 5:00 PM, one of them headed for Cohen's house, crushing several Hamas pickup trucks that had apparently been intended to transport the hostages.

[45][47] Brigadier General Barak Hiram, who by that time had arrived in Be'eri but was not present at Cohen's house, gave approval to fire light tank shells near and at the building to pressure the militants inside to surrender.

He was subsequently accused of ordering tank shells fired at the house "even at the cost of civilian casualties" but the IDF investigation cleared him.

At 6:00 PM, Hiram arrived at the house and spoke to the Yamam commander on the site, ordering that the stand-off be finished within 40 minutes as the sun was setting.

[45] According to the investigations by the IDF Armored Corps and the Israel Antiquities Authority, most of the hostages were killed by shots from AK-47 rifles and not by the tank shelling.

Dubbed the Elhanan Team, they evacuated over 100 residents of the kibbutz for 15 hours using an IDF armored vehicle they had found abandoned on a roadside.

In parallel, Staff Sergeant Ofek Russo, a medic in the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, was killed while treating a wounded soldier.

[66] It stated that at least two Be’eri cases reported in the press were determined to be "unfounded", including one where a crime scene had been altered and bodies moved, but added that the team also "received credible information" about bodies found naked, bound or gagged in Be’eri and that "circumstantial evidence – notably the pattern of female victims found undressed and bound – may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.

"[66][67] On 24 October 2023, the IDF reportedly killed Abed al-Rahman, deputy commander of the Nuseirat Battalion, who had led the Be'eri massacre.

[8] On 6 January 2024, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that Ismail Siraj, the commander of the Nuseirat Battalion, and his new deputy Ahmed Wahaba, who had replaced Rahman, were killed in an airstrike.

[68] In January 2024 it was announced that based on estimates from the Tkuma Administration which is leading the rehabilitation and development of the affected kibbutzim and Gaza periphery, the cost of rebuilding the kibbutz would be around $80 million.

About 20% said that they would return the minute they were given the green light from officials, while the majority of respondents indicated that their decision would depend on various factors, mostly clustered around security in the kibbutz and relations between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Porat said in interviews that an Israeli tank fired on a house in which several dozen militants were holding 14 hostages, including the 12-year-old twins.

[27][70][71] The militants unsuccessfully demanded safe passage from the Israeli army and police in order to return to the Gaza Strip with the hostages.

[72] In January 2024, relatives of the victims delivered a letter to the military in which they said that "according to the evidence, the shooting of the tank was fatal and killed many hostages in addition to the terrorists" and demanded a "comprehensive and transparent probe into the decisions and actions that led to this tragic outcome".

[29] Haaretz asked the IDF in an editorial to disclose whether or not the decision to fire on the house was an application of Israel's controversial Hannibal Directive.

[74] At 6 P.M., Hiram arrived on the scene and approved tank fire, including shells, out of concern that the terrorists might manage to flee under the increasing cover of darkness.

[75] In November 2023, an exhibition about the massacre and the resulting damage was opened at the Haifa City Museum which includes photographs taken in the kibbutz after the attack and as well as collected items to show the scale of destruction.