BEARING WITNESS

layoftheland376996452

Jan 22

A visit to the scenes of crimes against humanity

By Rolene Marks

GRAPHIC CONTENT

Kfar Aza is frozen in time. In this small slice of verdant heaven, where trees heavily laden with citrus fruit line small roads where children once played and the sound of their laughter would ring out, the silence is deafening. The trees stand as quiet witnesses to the devastation that this close-knit community endured on 7 October 2023.

Memorial to the 367 murdered at the Nova festival (Photos: Rolene Marks)

It has been over two weeks since I visited the "Otef" (Gaza envelope communities) who suffered the devastation of the 7/10 attacks. I am still processing my emotions and what I saw. A small delegation, headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made our way to the south to bear witness. I did not sleep the night before. Not a wink. I did not know what to expect – how do you prepare yourself to visit what essentially are killing fields?

The writer - Safety gear is mandatory (Photo: Rolene Marks)

It has taken me a while to find the words to adequately describe what I saw and the impact that it has had on me. Images and video in the media do not do justice to the scale of devastation. It is overwhelming and devastating. Walking through these areas, you know what happened in all its brutality and savagery. These communities are crimes scenes that are evidence of the most horrific crime against humanity committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. These are not terror tourism sites – but places where thriving communities have been decimated. Our communities, our brothers and sisters, in our land. I did not know the human body could produce so many tears but I cry a lot. Every day. Sometimes a silent scream comes out. As a journalist, I have a purpose – to make sure the world knows what happened and does not forget.

Why did we go there? The answer is simple - to bear witness. To honour them. To be their voices to the world. To remind everyone of the crime against humanity that was 7/10. The remaining residents of these communities have been evacuated for their safety, the area is a staging area for the military and the air is punctuated with the booms of artillery shells and helicopters. Access to these areas is restricted unless cleared by the army under strict conditions and protective gear is mandatory.

All that remains of the police station in Sderot is an empty lot (Photo: Rolene Marks)

We begin in Sderot, where Hamas terrorists ran rampage, murdering civilians in the streets. Sderot is the most bunkered town in the world, having been the target of thousands of rockets for over two decades. The streets are quiet, the residents evacuated, the sukkot still stand. We move to the open piece of land of what remains of the Sderot Police Station. After their rampage through the streets, Hamas terrorists took control of the police station, murdering the police inside. Some managed to escape to the roof, rescued by fire services. In order to eliminate the terrorists, the police station was destroyed. All that remains is an empty lot. I have taken many delegations to the police station over the years and this is a punch to the gut. Police and others come to pay their respects, understanding the massive battle that took place here. Fifty-nine police were lost on 7 October, each one fought valiantly.

Dairy Farm at Nahal Oz (Photo: Rolene Marks)

We then went on to Kibbutz Nahal Oz. On 7/10, this little slice of heaven became hell. While the houses are intact, the ZAKA stickers on the doors and spray-painted notifications bear silent witness to the slaughters that happened inside. I took a few minutes to think of the exceptional responders from ZAKA, whose grisly task is to retrieve bodies and all the blood and detritus so that a dignified, Jewish burial is possible. They witnessed the unthinkable. The first house you see is that of the Zohar family. The family was slaughtered, except for Ariel, who had gone for a run. He is now an orphan without parents or siblings. He is only 13 years old. Nahal Oz has a dairy farm and while it has resumed operations, you can see where Hamas savages came in, setting fire and launching grenades into the milking section. The dairy manager tells us that a quarter of the cows were killed - and the rest are traumatized and that it will take time for them to recover. Thanks to people like Ibrahim from the nearby Bedouin town of Rahat, they are now being taken care of. I think of the Bedouin community. I remember Fatima, a nursing mother of 9 who was wearing her hijab when Hamas terrorists pumped 19 bullets into her. Her husband hit with their baby until the IDF came. I think of those from Rahat held captive in Gaza. On that black Sabbath, Hamas terrorists came for us all – Jews, Christian and Muslim. A Sukkah stands, almost in proud defiance amongst the decimated and burnt communal structure. In the short distance, you can see Sujaiya in Gaza and hear the symphony of war. The people of Nahal Oz believed in peace. They dreamt of peace. That dream was shattered on 7/10.

Terrorists shot and burnt parts of the dairy farm (Photo: Rolene Marks)

They came to dance. They came to celebrate and hopefully manifest peace. Their hope was that the people in Gaza on the other side of the fence would dance for peace too. The memorial in Re'im for those murdered at the Nova music festival is filled with the pictures of beautiful young people, hunted and killed in the prime of their lives. This broke me. Looking at the beautiful, smiling faces of the 367 victims, all I can see is rocket fire. I see the paragliders coming in with armed savages who shot them, launched RPG's at their cars, brutally raped and tortured the women and mowed people down as they ran and fled for their lives. Some were taken as hostages into Gaza by laughing Hamas terrorists, who gleefully filmed everything so they could broadcast on social media and sow more terror. They murdered them as they ran, as they hid in porta loos, as they crammed into small shelters, hid behind trees and under bushes. It was a wholesale slaughter. As Bono sang a few days later, "Stars of David, they took your life, they could not take your pride". He is right. We are determined and resolute. We will dance again.

This Sukkah stands defiantly amongst the burnt ruins at Nahal Oz (Photo: Rolene Marks)

NOTHING prepares you for Kfar Aza. Time stands still in this beautiful kibbutz. Over 100 days have passed since Hamas committed their crime against humanity, and while the bodies and blood have been cleaned and the cloying stench of death has been replaced by the smell of overripe citrus, rotting because nobody is left to pick them. The ravaged, devastated homes scream at you.

Kfar Aza - No words - Only tears! (Photos: Rolene Marks)

"Tell our story," they beg.

"Tell the world of the horrors that happened here"

"Tell the world how we were murdered, tortured, burnt alive, beheaded, raped, mutilated and kidnapped "

What remains of the looting -Nitzan Libsein brutally murdered and Gali Berman is captive in ghaza - Bring them home! (Photos: Rolene Marks)

Each house has a marking. Red for murdered. A circle with a dot for bodies found. Yellow for kidnapped. The first wave of terror was followed by a second wave of civilians who also looted, raped, kidnapped and killed. Men and women and yes, children, participated in a festival of hate and carnage. The most devastating is the area for the young people, a row of tiny houses just metres from the fence. Each tiny house has been burnt or has had grenades explode inside them, killing the occupants. You get the impression that the young inhabitants were so proud of their first homes, only for them to be decimated and ransacked by savages. I am still processing my emotions. I just know their last moments were agony. The houses are cordoned off, many of them with signs of who was murdered inside. There is ash on the floor. Some of that ash is human remains.

"Human remains found on sofa" (Photo: Rolene Marks)

As devastated and angry as I am, I will continue to speak for them, to be their voice and tell the world. You should as well. We all should. Every world leader should walk through here.

Over 100 days later, the devastation remains. Kfar Aza is one of 22 sites of carnage. Over 100 days later, some of the inhabitants are still hostages in Gaza. Over 130 of our brothers and sisters are hostage in intolerable conditions in Gaza. We need to be their voices. We need to be the conscience of the world. We said NEVER AGAIN.

Never again is now.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).