Hamas rifles, gear found in Kibbutz Be’eri 25 months after Oct. 7

Assault rifles and other equipment belonging to Hamas terrorists were discovered on Wednesday during reconstruction work at Kibbutz Be’eri, more than two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the community.

“Arms and communication devices belonging to Hamas terrorists were found in a kindergarten in Kibbutz Be’eri. Police bomb squad officers neutralized the weapons safely and without incident,” the Israel Police stated.

An investigation found the weapons included “loaded and ready-to-fire Kalashnikov rifles, along with communication devices used by Hamas terrorists during the murderous terror attack on the kibbutz,” the statement added.

The weapons had remained in the Be’eri kindergarten since Israel Police officers and other security forces waged “heroic battles that halted the terrorists’ advance deeper into the country and saved many lives.”

The Oct. 7 massacre claimed the lives of roughly 10% of Be’eri’s 1,100 residents. Another 30 residents were among the 251 people taken hostage. The bodies of two kibbutz members are still being held in Gaza, along with the remains of a Thai agricultural worker taken from Be’eri.

Last month, police neutralized a Hamas grenade discovered in Be’eri during reconstruction work.

Thousands of terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, as well as unaffiliated Gazan civilians, infiltrated Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023.

As recently as June 2024, authorities discovered a decayed corpse, likely belonging to a terrorist, in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, adjacent to northeastern Gaza. Alongside the body, security forces found an empty combat vest and a shirt marked with Arabic letters.