An Israeli kibbutz just miles from the Gaza Strip was the scene of a massacre on Saturday when Hamas terrorists attacked. Amid what officials described as a "haunting" scene, they also uncovered that twin babies less than a year old had miraculously survived — because their young parents hid them just before being murdered by the militants. 

The mass killing occurred at the Kfar Aza kibbutz, a community just a few miles from the Gaza border. Israeli officials previously said that when Israel Defense Forces arrived at the kibbutz, they found "blood spread out in homes." 

"It's not a war or a battlefield. It's a massacre," said Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv of the IDF.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office posted gruesome photos on social media Thursday showing infants allegedly murdered there. The tweet said Netanyahu had showed the same "horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters" to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"We've found bodies of people who have been butchered ... beheaded children of varying ages, ranging from babies to slightly older children," IDF spokesperson Maj. Libby Weiss said. "... The depravity of it is haunting."

Among those killed there Saturday were Itai and Hadar Berdichevsky, both 30 years old, according to the Israeli Embassy in France. But in one final act before they were killed, they managed to spare the lives of their 10-month-old twins. 

💔Itaï et Hadar Berdichevsky avaient 30 ans, deux enfants.

Ils ont caché leurs jumeaux de 10 mois dans un abri pendant que les terroristes ont forcé l'entrée de leur maison à Kfar Gaza.

Ils se sont battus jusqu'au dernier moment, avant de se faire massacrer par les terroristes… pic.twitter.com/DDsAa3FEFA

— Ambassade d'Israël en France (@IsraelenFrance) October 10, 2023

The embassy said that the couple hid the babies when Hamas terrorists forced themselves into their home. The Jerusalem Post also reported that the family had lived at Kfar Aza.  

"They fought until the last moment, before being massacred by Hamas terrorists," the embassy posted in French on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Their babies were left alone for 14 hours before emergency services arrived on the scene." 

Rotem Segev, deputy ambassador of Israel in Cyprus, also posted about the couple, saying they were "brutally murdered after fighting fiercely with the terrorists." 

"Imagine the horror," Segev tweeted. "Two terrified parents who tried with all their might to protect their children, who are now orphans."

As of Thursday, IDF officials said that more than 1,200 Israelis have been killed since Hamas first launched its attacks on Saturday. More than 3,000 others have been injured. In Gaza — where nearly half of the Palestinians who reside there are children under 14 — more than 1,200 people, including hundreds of children, have been killed in Israel's counter-attacks. 

In:
• Hamas
• Israel
• Gaza Strip

Li Cohen

Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.