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JewishHistoryעברית

Be'eri massacre

Date
7 October 2023 – 8 October 2023Hebrew date: 22nd of Tishrei, 5784 – 23rd of Tishrei, 5784
Location
Kibbutz Be'eriIsrael
Then part of
State of Israel
Perpetrators
  • Hamas Nukhba force (Terror organization)
  • Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Terror organization)
Killed (estimate)
101 – 132[1]The IDF inquiry counted 101 civilians killed and 31 security personnel who fell in the fighting (23 IDF soldiers and civilian rapid-response members and eight police officers). It recorded 30 Be'eri residents and two additional people abducted. A UN commission of inquiry reported 105 residents killed and 30 abducted.
Country

0.0014% – 0.0019% of the Jewish population of State of Israel (c. 2023)[22]

Worldwide

0.00064% – 0.00084% of the worldwide Jewish population (c. 2023)[3]

Category
Massacre, Terror attack
Confidence
DisputedThe IDF inquiry's civilian death toll is 101; the UN commission reported 105 residents killed. The IDF figure of 31 security personnel killed is additional to the civilian count and is not stated as a separate total by the UN commission.

Summary

On 7 October 2023, about 340 gunmen, including about 100 Hamas Nukhba operatives, entered Kibbutz Be'eri, killed residents in their homes, burned houses and abducted people to Gaza. The IDF inquiry found that residents and the civilian rapid-response team fought for about seven hours before substantial army forces arrived, and that operational control was restored on the night of 7–8 October, with clearing completed on 8 October.

Sources

  1. Battle of Kibbutz Be'eri. Israel Defense Forces (2024)
  2. Detailed findings on attacks carried out on and after 7 October 2023 in Israel. UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (OHCHR) (2024)

Jewish population (estimates)

  • Worldwide: 15,691,200[3]c. 2023Core Jewish population on 1 January 2023, as published in DellaPergola's 2023 Year Book chapter.
  • State of Israel: 7,060,900[22]c. 2023DellaPergola's revised core Jewish population of Israel on 1 January 2023 is 7,060,900, after a −40,500 revision following the 2022 Israel census (before the +92,100 rise to 7,153,000 on 1 January 2024).

Sources for population estimates

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  3. Jewish Population of Europe in 1933. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
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  10. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Religious Norms, Human Capital, and Money Lending in Jewish European History. Handbook chapter PDF via zvi-eckstein.com
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  62. Sara Koplik, The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933–1952. SOAS University of London (PhD thesis abstract / deposit page) (2001)
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