Scars of shock Gaza militant raids remain in Israel

From blood-streaked homes to swollen body bags, the scars of the shock raid by Hamas militants on communities in southern Israel remain as troops mass on the border with Gaza.

A pile of corpses at the entrance to the Beeri kibbutz less than five kilometers (around three miles) from the border warns of what happened inside the gated community, which was overrun on Saturday by militants who killed more than 100 residents, the military said.

“The devastation here is absolutely massive,” said Doron Spielman, an Israeli army spokesman.

The mounds of rubble ripped from homes indicate the ferocity of Saturday’s fight between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, whose assault on the country’s south left at least 1,200 dead according to officials.

Outside one house, there were wide streaks of blood beside multiple abandoned magazines of bullets.

An overturned barbeque and a cool box beside a pile of rubble hinted at what had been the life of the countryside community.

White bags containing corpses lay ready for collection outside homes, and will be taken for DNA testing the Israeli military said.

“It’s very difficult for us, we still don’t know who’s a hostage and who was killed,” said Spielman.

Families across Israel and abroad have made desperate appeals for information about their missing relatives, with around 150 people estimated to have been abducted and taken back to Gaza.

Troops gather –

While scores of militants withdrew to the Palestinian enclave, ruled by Hamas since 2007, Israel said its forces had killed around 1,500 fighters on its own territory.

In Beeri and elsewhere near the Gaza border, AFP correspondents on Wednesday saw the decaying bodies of militants.

“Our first priority is of course to cover, and to gather and to move away all the Israelis, and after that we will do it for the terrorists,” said Spielman, when asked about the pile at the kibbutz entrance.

Two Toyota trucks with Palestinian numberplates stood near destroyed homes in Beeri, one with a gun mount.

Across the kibbutz, Israeli military vehicles massed along with hundreds of troops.

The army launched swift retaliatory strikes across the Gaza Strip, which have destroyed swathes of the densely-populated territory.

The intense bombardment has killed at least 1,055 people, according to Palestinian medics, and Israel has vowed a long battle in the wake of the Hamas killings.

The United Nations estimates more than 260,000 people have been displaced in the Palestinian enclave by the strikes.

As hundreds of thousands of reservists were called up for the war, deep booms of the conflict could be heard repeatedly from Beeri.

by Rosie SCAMMELL