A grandmother living in a kibbutz settlement in southern Israel is the first Australian confirmed killed in the Hamas attack.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned the Hamas militants who “murdered” Galit Carbone, 66, at her home in Be’eri kibbutz, a scene of horrifying atrocities.
Carbone was found lying on the ground outside her home in the Be’eri kibbutz.
It’s believed Carbone raised her three children at Be’eri, and previously worked at the settlement, just to the east of the Gaza border, as a librarian.
More than 100 bodies have been found in the kibbutz, a self-sustaining farming community of 1000 residents near Gaza. Carbone is one at least of 1000 killed in Israel.
Be’eri kibbutz was one of first places targeted by militants who breached the border early on Saturday morning, and among the hardest hit.
Heavily armed militants arrived in Be’eri on motorbikes around 7am, 30 minutes after they breached the typically high-tech, tightly guarded border wall between Gaza and Israel.
Carbone is the first known Australian victim of the conflict.
“On behalf of the government, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms Carbone,” Wong said in a statement today.
“Australia unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas. There is no excuse for the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.
“The loss of life from these attacks has been devastating and unacceptable.”
The government called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those taken hostage, Wong said.
Terrified residents told Israel’s Channel 12 television station that assailants went door to door, trying to break into their homes.
Of the 107 bodies discovered in the aftermath, most were of local residents of the kibbutz, though some were Israeli security forces, an official confirmed.
The IDF acknowledged that Be’eri was “very badly hit.”
Horrific details are emerging from various kibbutzim attacked by Hamas, as soldiers and search and rescue teams recover bodies and look for survivors.
There are reports of Hamas militants killing babies in front of parents, and the slaughter of old and young.
Traditionally agrarian, the kibbutzim were popular in the country’s early years, founded on ideals of communal living and agriculture.
(9 NEWS)
