Kfar Aza had more than 700 residents prior to the attack, and it took two days for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to regain full control of the area.

[15] The Islamist militants began by targeting the west side of the community—an area in the kibbutz close to Gaza—where families with young children lived.

[16][17] Members of the kibbutz with military training, who formed a volunteer armed guard, fought against invading militants in an attempt to defend the community.

[5] Another Palestinian militant group, the Maoist DFLP, also declared that its troops (organized as National Resistance Brigades) were fighting the IDF in Kfar Aza.

In the aftermath of the initial Hamas assault, witnesses from the IDF and the first responder organization ZAKA told i24news that they had seen the bodies of beheaded infants at the site of the Kfar Aza massacre.

[10][37] On 4 December, Haaretz reported that "unverified stories [had been] disseminated by Israeli search and rescue groups, army officers and even Sara Netanyahu".

[13] They quoted Ishay Coen, a journalist for the ultra-Orthodox website Kikar Hashabbat, who admitted he made a mistake by unquestioningly accepting the IDF's claims.

[41] Kfar Aza massacre survivor Ziv Stahl, executive director of the human rights organization Yesh Din, strongly opposed calls to exact revenge in an article for Haaretz, arguing that, "Indiscriminate bombing in Gaza and the killing of civilians uninvolved with these horrible crimes are no solution".

[44][22] In December 2023 it was reported that actress Debra Messing and journalist Douglas Murray toured the site of the massacre and met with survivors during their trip to Israel.

[45]The kibbutz has become a place of pilgrimage, military ceremonies and tourism by visitors to Israel and Israeli citizens, with at least one resident speaking out about the practice.

[46] A visitor to the site expressed discomfort walking through the empty streets and stated that many homes had giant banners with the names and pictures of their residents along with their status after the attacks.